Dear Reader,
If you have been reading my ranching chronicles lately, you have probably noticed that I 1) have several siblings and 2) have lots of chores. There are five of us all together, four girls and one boy (I’m the oldest). Like most families, when we were all old enough, we began to do chores around the house, but unlike most families, we also began doing chores around the ranch. As a kid it was always amazing to me that other kids didn’t have to do inside and outside chores throughout the day. When they cleaned up the house after breakfast they were done… just done! Of course, there were random outside chores, but that could all be addressed on a Saturday morning.
When we were really little chores started out as tagging along with our dad or helping our mom in the kitchen. We did the usual progression of chores, starting out with just putting our things away, which progresses to sweeping and doing dishes. Our outside chores progressed from having fun feeding the horses with Daddy, to having our own bottle calf to which other animals were slowly added. By the time we were in fourth grade we had been fully integrated into the chore system and could be responsible for just about any daily chore.
Since there are mostly girls in our family and our brother is the youngest, our chores did not get divided up into the traditional boy and girl chore categories. It was more on a basis of can you reach things and are you strong enough. When we were old enough to help with simple things, most of our chores involved helping clean the house or watching the baby. When we were big enough to look out for ourselves and carry heavier things we were promoted to outside chores and inside chores. Because of this, we are all capable to varying degrees of whatever needs to be done around the ranch.
A few weekends ago we had a farewell to summer party. The Friday before the event included an all hands on deck cleaning the house and mowing the yard afternoon. During this frenzy some of us were helping mow and tidy up the yard, while some of us were panic cleaning inside (you know, when you see every unclean thing that your visitor will probably never even notice). The interesting thing about this though is that we each gravitated towards our preferred area of work. I enjoy cleaning the house and the satisfaction that it gives me. My brother, like most boys, prefers mowing and pulling weeds. But because we were taught how to do everything, we can help in any area in a pinch. If I had to, I could mow the lawn and my brother could clean the house. Both may not be up to the highest standards, but the job would pass inspection.
Even though we were raised doing all of the chores as we got older, we gravitated towards our favorites and those became our regular chores. I prefer horses and cows so that is what I am typically in charge of feeding. One of my sisters likes to take care of the dogs and does not find them annoying and icky (guess who does). I don’t like to cook but find great satisfaction in sweeping the floors and a tidy home. My brother likes to keep the yard looking nice and making contraptions to help him accomplish this. But there are always exceptions. My brother likes things tidy, and I will catch him sweeping the living room before I go to work. He will sometimes even try his hand at cooking, during which we all coincidentally find a seat in the adjoining living room or happen to have something to do in the kitchen too.
I think that it is important that children are given skills to make them self-sufficient, even if it is just a band aid job until they can get expert help. There were times where my dad forced me to learn how to do something because I needed to learn how to do it. Did I learn it expertly? No, but I know enough to not sound clueless when I go to buy parts for machinery.
From the Rancher's Daughter's Desk 