Summer break started last week, so when I came home from my run this morning, I checked to make sure Bryce had put the garbage can out by the curb (he had), pulled the hose right up next to the flower beds, and opened the door to the dishwasher. Then I came upstairs, verifying on the way that the piles of laundry I’d put on each child’s dresser hadn’t dumped onto the floor in the night.

In just a little while, Annie will head down to the kitchen, and with that dishwasher door open, she’ll be sure to remember that she needs to empty it. Eventually, Bryce will wake up, and after a reminder or two, he’ll head out front to water the plants, a job that will be easier because the hose is right there ready to go. Then they’ll check off the boxes on their job charts labeled “empty dishwasher” and “water plants” and be one step closer to their end-of-summer goals.

I have a love-hate relationship with these summer job charts. On the one hand, I think it’s great for the kids to have regular jobs. At the beginning of the summer I sat down with each of them, and we talked about whether they wanted to work toward a weekly allowance or a reward at the end of the summer (Annie wants a bunny) and what percentage of their chores they needed to complete in order to receive that reward. Each kid has about ten jobs each day, ranging from simple things like “brush teeth” (unfortunately, my kids need the reminder) to “math workbook” or “typing practice” or “clean the chicken coop.” The downside is that with four kids with ten jobs each, I feel a lot like I have forty jobs to do each day. I don’t actually do the jobs, I just do a lot of reminding (“have you practiced the piano yet?” or “is your laundry put away?”). Do I help too much? Maybe, but I really want them to succeed so they feel good about the hard work they’ve put in.

During the nine months of the school year, the kids make their beds and practice the piano and do their homework, and I send them off to school for most of the day. But the summer months are the months that test a mother’s mettle, the months where I feel most responsible for shaping my kids into becoming functioning members of society. That’s a lot of pressure when they’d rather be playing tag in the backyard or hiding out with the wii in the basement. Heck, I’d rather be curled up with a book in my bedroom. But I had these kids, and I guess that means I have to raise them. So I prod, wheedle, and put the math workbook right on the kitchen counter where Bryce won’t be able to miss it, and as I do, I wonder how many times my heavenly parents put things right in my path, opportunities for growth or responsibilities I need to fulfill, so they’re not so easy to overlook.

I hear the ticking of the metronome down in the living room, the tinkling of silverware in the kitchen, and a drawer sliding open in the bedroom. Is it possible they’re getting the hang of it, without me standing over as drill sergeant?

Do your kids have summer jobs? How’s it going? Anyone else want to chuck them sometimes and spend the whole summer eating magnum bars and hiking in the mountains? What do you gain personally from giving your kids jobs (other than not having to empty the dishwasher)?

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