Home or Hotel?

I recently read a book that asked this question, "Is your house a home or a hotel for your children?" At that time, I was definitely running a hotel. I was doing everything for our kiddos and starting to resent the fact that they expected it. Well after I read this book, things got shaken up!! The girls have regular chores and certain expectations of what they need to do everyday. It has changed our home drastically. A few of the things the girls do are: Empty the dishwasher (Reagan does the dishes, Rebecca does the silverware 2. Help pick up the house at the end of the day 3. Clean up their dirty clothes after a shower 4. do their own laundry and keep their rooms clean with a vacuum and dusting once a week. They do get an allowance, but they can only lose money if I have to do a job for them or if they hire someone else to accomplish their responsibility. At first I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but I have to say it has helped relieve my burden a ton! Anyway, the best part so far is this, yesterday I noticed Reagan's room was getting a touch messy and her bed wasn't made. So I did it for her. It was so cool to see her come home from school go up in her room and yell, "THANKS MOM!" I got the opportunity to bless her instead of feel taken advantage of. That has been awesome. It has given me joy back in surprising them with a job already done! The other great thing is we have started giving them allowance. They are a bunch of savers!! LOL No one wants to spend their money now that they are seeing it add up. It's cool to watch them learn that not everything is worth having. Lastly, I have to tell you about Ryan who is picking things up just by watching. Lately his favorite past time is to play in the sink. With a stool he can reach to turn the water on and play. Last night I let him play for a while so he got out some cups and was having a grand time. At some point he decided while he was there he would brush his teeth. So I told him to brush his teeth and then he needed to be done. I could not believe it when I walked in the bathroom after he was done...we'll I couldn't believe he actually turned the water off the first time I asked!...He had put all of his cups away and done his 2 year old best to clean up without me asking!! That was so cool. Is it really possible that I am going to end with an easy child??? I guess the lesson that I have learned is that I can do everything for everybody thinking I am being a great mom and in the process burn myself out into a resentful mess. Or I can delegate some of the responsibilities to my children and give them a happy mom and teach them to contribute to our family. When the choice is home or hotel, we remember quickly that a hotel is only fun for so long but it always feels great to come home!