Childhood Garden Chores

[so lucky]

I suppose I had to do some chores besides clean my room and alternate supper dishes with my brother, but I don't remember much. I don't remember my parents ever having a vegetable garden while I was growing up. My grandmother did, but I doubt if she shared any produce. When I was 12, I got a baby sister (my brother and I wanted a pet monkey, but we got a scrawny little baby instead. ) After that I was a built-in baby sitter, albeit an unwilling one.

 

[Nyboy]

Sorry lucky I found that very funny !! Monkey to baby

 

[Smart Red]

I was a city kid on a small corner lot. There was nothing garden related for me to do as 'chores'. During the summer both mom and Dad worked for Libby Foods so we got all the corn, peas, and tomatoes we could possibly can without the need for growing a garden.

I did help a blind neighbor find her veggies sometimes and I helped "Grampa" Thrasher, another neighbor with his yard work and therapy after his stroke.

Nope, no garden chores for me until I went North to one of my Aunts' homes in the summer. Then there was the weeding, picking beans, and my very favorite chore of all, helping with the haying. Even sweeping out the barn was a delight for 2-4 short weeks on the farm. Helping with milking and feeding the animals were bliss, pure and simple. That may explain a lot about my precious 30 acres, huh?

I had an older brother, so Dad and Stan did the outside chores. I was usually hiding behind a chair or in a closet reading books, but dishes was one chore I hate to this day. Saturday cleaning is another. Now that I get to decide, I clean up a bit every week day and totally waste Saturdays and Sundays with the Grands or otherwise doing what I want.

Mom and Dad went and had an accident when I was eight. It was the expected arrival of my sister, Geri after nine terrible months with an unwilling mother-to-be! I suppose Geri was my biggest chore, but I loved little children and I loved babysitting so taking care of her wasn't what I considered a chore. That's about the time Mom split -- trying to find herself, I guess -- and Dad and I raised my sister for a few years. She used to call me "Momma". I suspect all three of us were good with that.

Then after a couple of years apart Dad drove mom to the courthouse where they got a divorce, Dad drove her back home with him and they lived together until Dad passed 30 years later. Go figure! I still had the major care of my sister. I remember taking her that first day of school and introducing her to her new (my old) kindergarten teacher.

Of course, when it came to dishes, Thanksgiving dinner in Milwaukee was the absolute worst! The three of us older cousins had to do the dishes --not unexpected -- but dishes were pulled out of suitcases, closets, the basement, anywhere they could have been stashed by my uncle's wife in anticipation of getting them clean. PIA!

 

[Nyboy]

Red both my parents worked full time jobs so my older sister had to mother both my younger sister and myself. Years later my older sister asked me to do a session with her therapist on our childhood. She could not believe I remembered, when I said my sister raised us.

 

[Smart Red]

Yeah, that's one of the mistakes I corrected with my children. Spouse and I both worked, but being an educator does make spending time with children easier.

On the other hand, I made a lot of money babysitting from age 10-17-ish. As I said, I've always liked working with children (and I looked a lot older then ten.)

 

[seedcorn]

Picking strawberries. Being stupid, I'd sleep in. Then have to pick them in heat (& bugs). Still not real fond of strawberries.

Got $.50/week allowance. Learned how to save to buy things that cost over $.50. Didn't give my kids an allowance, think that was a mistake. Oh well, just one of many mistakes....

 

[thistlebloom]

That's the thing about being a parent. Our hindsight is 20/20.

I didn't give my kids an allowance either, but if they wanted to go beyond their daily chores and work extra on something that needed to get done, I paid them for it.

 

[Nyboy]

Around here kids get their 1st credit card at 13, a new car at 16 and job not until after they finish collage.

 

[ducks4you]

Wow! This thread is "all the news that's fit to print." I'll add my own two cents worth.
Both my older and brother and I had mowing and VERY light housekeeping chores With an allowance. It worked well for me because I had a purpose for my money, first renting a horse to ride 1 hour/week and then riding lessons. That motivated me.
We didn't really give our daughters specific chores, BUT, we let them "campaign" for their Christmas presents, which were usually the latest Nintendo game.
We were frugel, but still gave our daughters many things. However, we drew the line at paying for our daughter's driver's insurance, so they all started working at 16yo--youngest DD worked for our Vet at 15yo. UNfortunately, they earned more than they needed...and spent it. HOWEVER, all three DD's learned a work ethic that many of their peers didn't. They all worked through college and our youngest DD was miffed that her Law School wouldn't let her work during her first year. Since she had worked at a local JoAnne's fabric, she found a part time job at the store in the same town as her Law School. Both her sisters worked part time. Middle DD was the only one who lived on campus, and she had a part time job there in her dorm, which, btw, was the only all female dorm on campus--good choice.
Eldest DD managed a Game Stop. Her opinion about lower level management is that it is slave labor. She now works full time hourly at the best employer in our county and has great benefits, including dental, which fully paid for her wisdom teeth removal a few weeks ago.
I kept a better house when my daughters were younger. Now that everyone (finally) is out of the house, I'm getting it AND my yard back under control.
I am very good at keeping dishes clean. I am very bad at putting clean dishes away from the dishwasher and the sink's dry rack.
My parents never involved me in either their small garden or in cooking. BIG mistake, and I taught MY DD's how to do everything that I had learned to do. Eldest DD is fascinated now with recipes. I can't make as good a meat loaf as she can. (The secret ingredient is using a blender for the eggs, onions and garlic AND adding a full sweet pepper, then you mix with the meat.)
Middle DD keeps a tidy and Spartan house.
I am watching our Attorney Associate make some big mistakes with her kids. She has successfully trained all three to have excellent manners. But, she and her DH shower them with toys. Their kids don't even ask twice and they all have a better phone than me. She even bought a new laptop, supposedly for herself, legitimately for work, then gave it to her son. She has replaced smartphones for them, and you know how easy they break. I pretty much stay out of it, but with her eldest, her son now in HS I'm not sure that he is prepared to manage on his own. Only her middle DD does any chores, and it sounds like she, at 11yo, is starting to resent her lazy siblings.
Garden chores and house chores are SO IMPORTANT!!! None of us understand their importance when we are children. But we know now that nobody is going to follow us around and clean up our messes. I certainly do NOT resent anybody who makes a great amount of money and pays for such services. They provide jobs for people who prefer to do such work, and we need more jobs right now.
For the rest of us, the dirty dishes will stare at us unless we do something about it. At MY house, in the summer, I get ants from dirty dishes left in the sink. That motivates me to clean them up. I have discovered that I can use Dawn on a sponge, and let leave the soapy water on the counter to clean up the ant trails. You can always wipe that up later on, and it isn't toxic.

 

[ninnymary]

That's the thing about being a parent. Our hindsight is 20/20.

I didn't give my kids an allowance either, but if they wanted to go beyond their daily chores and work extra on something that needed to get done, I paid them for it.

Growing up I never got an allowance. Didn't give my kids one either. Yet they all grew up being responsible adults especially with their money.

Mary