We all have things we wish we would have done differently., especially when it comes to raising our children. If I could do things over again I would have made Hailey do more chores, take more responsibility around the house.
When I became a single parent it just seemed easier to do things myself. The time it would take to teach Hailey was time we could spend doing something we enjoyed, so I didn’t teach her.
Now she is an adult and is missing some very important life skills. If you think it’s hard to teach a ten year old basic housekeeping, wait until she is a teenager who knows everything, then it’s really fun.
I think there is a part of Hailey that is frustrated with me as well. These are things she should already know, but, she doesn’t. That was my choice, it was faster and easier, so I took the easy way out. It’s easy to think that things like housekeeping and cooking just come naturally but to most of us they don’t. We learn these skills from our mothers and many single mothers are neglecting to pass these skills down.
It seems that many of the young adults I know that were raised in single parent families have messy homes and the local take out place on speed dial. We are doing our children a disservice.
As hard as it is to find the time in an already time stressed day, we need to do it. It’s important that our kids know it takes more than one person to keep a household running smoothly.
Every child should be able to do their own laundry and cook a few basic meals before they leave home. Knowing how to clean the bathroom will benefit them later on. Our kids may hate it but one day they will thank us.