As a young child, I began being responsible for certain things. I had to make sure my own toys were put where they belonged, as soon as I got through playing with them. With seven people living in a four-room house, there just wasn't room to leave anything out in the way, so we all learned to put things away, as soon as we got through with them. By the time I was about four years old, I was begging to help with the dishes; Mother would put the pan of water on the bench that we kids sat on at the table, so I could wash or rinse and dry the dishes. It wasn't something I was required to do, but something I wanted to do, to help out. By the time I was ten, I was babysitting for family members and sometimes, even, for neighbors-and getting paid!

When my own children were young, they were expected to help clean their rooms and their bathroom. By the time the youngest was in the first grade, they were all helping with specific chores, which they were paid to do. Each one has his or her own chores to do; if the chores were not done in any given week, they did not get paid that week. This taught them that if they didn't do the work, they couldn't expect to get paid; therefore, they began to help each other with the work! By the time the youngest was in middle school, all three could do any of the others' jobs.

By that time, too, they had all learned basic cooking skills, so I began scheduling each of them one night a month to cook the evening meal. They could choose the menu, and if shopping needed to be done for it, they did the shopping. That night, the one who cooked didn't have to help with the dishes; other nights of the month, all three had to help with them, taking turns doing the jobs.

Also, by the time the youngest was in middle school, she and her older sister, the middle child, were also babysitting for the neighbors and even sometimes for people from our church. They had been around other children and babies most of their lives, and knew exactly what to do, and they were good at it. Soon, both were also house sitting, for some of those same people they babysat for.

Because of their learning to work at home, they were prepared to work outside the home. Since they had been paid for some of their work at home and had learned to save part of the money they earned (all three saved up enough in less than a year to pay for bicycles for themselves), they also knew how to budget the money they received from their work outside the home. They all still work, and they are all paying, or helping to pay, for their own homes and the expenses there.

And because of the work ethic learned at home and practiced over the years, they have done well on their own. My son has worked as a butcher for several years, even though he has a dysfunctional kidney; my youngest almost single-handedly kept her own family in food and clothing for several years. My middle child, the older daughter, has recently been promoted to Assistant Comptroller at the school she attended; she has worked in the office almost since she began college. I am proud of all my off-spring; I can't call them children anymore, because they are independent, self-supporting, contributing adults!

Learn more about this author, Barbara A. Black.
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