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Household Chores
Dan, my third child, was especially proud of his ability to cook. That happened because six years after starting out as a single parent, I finally got my first full-time job. I liked the work, but the office was an hour away and the days were1.
For the first few weeks, after a long day of work, I would arrive home at 7:00 at night and started preparing dinner. By the time we actually sat down to eat everyone was tired. So we came up with another2. Each Sunday I would plan meals for the following week.
But who would do the cooking? Matthew had a part-time job after school. Lisa had to go to the chess club. It turned out that fourteen- year-old Dan was usually the first one to arrive home, and so he3the responsibility to prepare the meal for us each night.
We spent a few weekend evenings cooking together and I taught him simple cooking skills. And for the rest of that year, he made dinner for us every night.
Yes, there were a few bad meals. But it didn't matter4it was a great feeling for me to walk into the door and smell dinner cooking in the house. We were able to start our evening around the table together, enjoying a simple meal and5the stories of the day.
One day I read an article about things that made us feel loved. I wondered what made my children feel loved.
Dan's answer6me the most. "I felt loved when I made dinner every night when you were working full-time," he said.
"That made you feel loved?" I couldn't believe it. I'd often had moments of guilt over asking so much of my children, worrying that I made them do too much chores.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "I liked learning to cook with you. And I felt that you7me to make the meals for the whole family. And that trust made me feel loved."
I look at our household chores differently now. They are not so painful and annoying tasks as I thought before; they are part of what it means to be a family together. They are opportunities for us to show love for each other and to feel8in return.
