Little House in the Big Northwest: chores

All my kids are growing up so fast! They are moving up in the world! Here are some recent updates on my kids to show how quickly they are changing and maturing.

Julianna, almost 17 months old now has said several new words this week. "Bear" "Star" "Moo" &"Bye bye" (more clearly now anyway) and she sang the melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! I love it when my babies first figure out how to sing! All of my kids have been early singers. Christopher could sing a whole repertoire of songs by the time he was 18 months, but Courtney was my earliest singer. She learned how to sing when she was only 9 months old! Funny, but she hardly sings at all now. She's usually too busy pulling headstands. Julianna is also learning how to run. She hasn't quite figured out how to climb yet, but I actually saw her CRAWL for the first time last week! She can crawl a little, after she's been walking for3 months!

Angel has now been promoted to the chore list. Starting in September she got her official first "chore". Emptying the silverware out of the dishwasher has been the very first chore each of our children have received. In the past, some of our kids have had a hard time with this transition. Not Angel! Her entire life was spent watching her older siblings do chores. So, for her, this was a HUGE boost! Her very first day, she was so proud of herself! She even does it now without being asked! It's just the beginning on the long road of learning to take care of herself and serving others in the family.

The other big news on Angel is that she is POTTY TRAINED!!! She still has accidents...but for the most part, she wears underwear full time, even to bed! The only thing holding her back from 100% completion is that she still refuses to sit on any of the "big" potties at any store. They terrify her. She is only willing to use "regular" small potties at peoples houses. Which means when we go out for the day, Angel has to wear a pull-up, or I have to haul a portable kid potty. It's quite a pain, we're hoping she grows out of it sometime this year.

Angel is also participating in a preschool Co-op. This is a huge source of joy and satisfaction for Angel. She is loving it. She feels so grown-up to have an activity that is just for her. At first, I was hesitant to commit to participating, but I'm so glad that I did. Once ever five weeks, I plan 2 days of preschool for five 3-year olds. It has been so much fun so far! My older kids are a little jealous. None of them got to do anything quite like this.

Courtney has been promoted in her chores. Now she has been moved from emptying the silverware to unloading the rest of the dishes with Dorathy. She is also learning to do dishes as well as clear and wash all the tables and counters. She has her own assigned "zone" of the house she is responsible to pick up every night. For all the changes, she is handling it very well. She is a champion dish washer, and loves washing the dishes by hand. I think her love of water and bubbles helps her out.

Courtney is also participating in YMCA gymnastics. It has been a sacrifice to drive to Independence 2x a week, but I think we'll keep on doing it. Courtney is really enjoying the gymnastics class. It is just second nature to her.

Dorathy is learning to be a chef. She is a girl who loves food. She hates sandwhiches, and so one day during the lunch hour when she was hungry she offered to cook for all of us. All on her own with no help, she made "Tortilla pizzas" for the whole family! I think that means she's ready to learn more cooking! She's got a real eye for balance and beauty; when Dorathy cooks, she's not just making a meal, she's creating art. Dorathy would do great in a 4H cooking class at some point, she really goes for the "presentation". She's the kid who at 5 years old made little "Italy Flags" to stick in everyone's pieces of lasagna. What a character!

Dorathy is enjoying her art lessons very much. She tells me she wishes the classes were several times a week instead of just once. Right now, she's learning water color. Both Dorathy and Courtney spend hours drawing. It's fun to see how they pay attention to eachother's art work, and bounce ideas off each other. When Dorathy and Athena draw, or Ivy and Courtney draw, they tend to reflect one another's artistic style. It's interesting to watch. I think Dorathy draws as good as I did when I was 11, and Courtney already draws as I did when I was 8. I never spent a lot of time drawing as a kid, I just preferred watching my sister draw instead!

Christopher is now ELEVEN YEARS OLD! I can't believe it. He's entering the pre-teen years! Lots of things are headed his way! He is now participating in 11 year old scouts. He is really enjoying it. He's already gone to his first overnight campout. He had a blast. He put up his own tent with zero help. I don't think I could do that without help! (I've forgotten)

Christopher has graduated from emptying the dishwasher and has now moved on to more interesting chores...like mopping! Christopher changed his first diaper last week. He's been dreading that for years, but we're finally requiring him to learn it as he is currently in training to be our babysitter! According to Oregon law, a kid is old enough to stay home alone at 10 years old, and old enough to babysit when they turn 11. I was so worried that he wouldn't be ready to step up to that responsibility, but he's really almost there!

I'm going to design a little home "babysitting class" for him with a few more things he has to complete and check off before he's babysitting ready. We already had a short trial run, and I came home to find that Julianna's diaper had fallen off and she was playing in the potty...SO we have some work to do! Christopher's excited to give it another try. Scott and I will have our first date be at home, while Christopher watches the kids at our own house. Then we'll eventually move to the point where he's watching the kids after we've already put them to bed, and we're in town a close phone call away.

Anyway, you can tell we've been thinking about this....we've got a plan! It's so much fun to watch these amazing kids growing up!