What responsibilities did you have when you were 12 years old?
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I was babysitting outside my home and I had to take care of all the shrubs around our house and keep them and the flowers weed free.
Doing the dishes every evening with my sisters. That’s it.
I helped my Granny keep the house clean, and I helped with the cooking. I wasn’t forced to pitch in, and I didn’t receive any compensation; it was just expected I suppose.
I haven’t had as much luck with my sons…They are the “Great Chore Evaders” for certain. But they started improving a few years ago (at ages 12 and 9) at Christmas time. They were being awful, so I went on strike! I just dropped everything in it’s tracks and fed them the cheap fast food they always clamored for but we seldom had. I made them pack their own lunches, and scrub icky bathrooms. And they went through all their favorite clothes fast and had to wear “icky” ones. They eventually became very upset, especially since I just plopped the Christmas tree into a bucket of heavy rocks and water, and called her done! Like I said, it took three weeks until the boys started begging for their old mom back, and it was worth every minute, even if it did take a long time to get the house straightened up again.
Recently,they have slipped a lot in the help department and I would be fussing more, but as you know, they are moving out soon. They are in for a big shock. Still, I feel the Empty Nest Syndrome lurking about and I will probably be looking to my new blogging buddies to help guide me through the experience!!!
I had a lot of responsibility for that age. It varied depending on what part of the year it was. I always had to clean the kitchen, my bedroom, my parents’ bedroom, and the bathroom, and help with the laundry. I also had to help care for my 3yo brother; I had to dress him for daycare in the morning and do a lot for him during evenings / weekends / summers. During football season, I had to cook 3 days a week. When my baby sister was born later that year, I had to help a lot with her care – change and wash diapers, keep her stuff neat, etc. Also that summer, my mom hired me to do “all” of the housework including the above plus all laundry and keeping clean every room in the house. (The pay was $10/week.) I quit the job at some point, since we never could agree on whether I had earned my $10. I also had a couple of occasional babysitting jobs for other families.
Oh, and of course I was responsible to do well in school. My parents didn’t believe in helping with homework or any of that. I was placed in a high-standards school a year early, and I was expected to keep high grades, and I did. I also attended church and Sunday School every week.
Oh, and violin lessons and practice. No parental involvement other than providing the instrument and paying the lesson fee.
By that time, both of my brothers were out of the house, so it was just me and my parents. We all kind of helped out wherever… Mom would make dinner, but they’d help clear, and I’d load the dishwasher. Most of the time, the grass-cutting was my job, but we had a big yard, so Dad would have me do the back, and he’d do the front and sides. Oh, yeah… somehow my mom scammed me into believing that the bathrooms were “my job” to keep clean. I HATED that, but did it anyway, most of the time.
When we went on vacation, it was always a camping trip, so there were jobs spread around – everyone was responsible for packing light (thank you for that lesson mom and dad… holy cow, I never realized what a skill that is!), and for helping out setting up/tearing down camp. By age six, I was filleting fish, so the rule was soon instituted: he who catches it, cuts it.
Keeping my room spotless, doing dishes, laundry, clean house. Everything I do now…the difference is, if I want to take a break I CAN! I also babysat for all of my mom and step fathers friends.
Keep my room clean, pick up after my self, do dishes, and practice the piano