Having Children Means Free Labor, Sort Of

One of the things I thought of when we became parents was that someday we would have a small labor force to help us take care of our house for free. Let me tell you, they aren't free. We just don't have to pay them a wage. At the ages of 9, 6, and 5, our kids can be helpful with a project in some way or another.

Today we tore out carpet in our living room in preparation for our new carpet being installed on Wednesday. This is a job Jackie, Rockley, and Esia have experience with. When we put vinyl flooring in our dining room, kitchen, and hallway, they pitched in by helping to haul out the old carpet, sweeping up the dreadfully pulverized carpet pad and hauling it to the truck.

Their favorite part of the job, oddly enough, was using a pliers to pull the staples that held the pad down. For whatever reason they find it to be a fascinating task. I find it to be tedious and endlessly boring.

They aren't going to be able to go all "Chip and Jo" on our house anytime soon, but they can "help" in a variety of other ways. That reminds me, I need another beer.

See Also: