My "Helper"

This morning I was getting ready to take the recycling to the container in the garage. I had to go in the garage anyway to get the wreath for the front door so I could finally take down the Christmas wreath. Then all of the Christmas decorations will be completely gone.

My 5 year old saw me with my armload of paper and bottles heading out to the garage. He stopped me, "Mom, I want to do it." Now I'm sure some of you are asking, "why would a 5 year old want to take out the recycling?" Or maybe you are thinking, "Why would anyone want to do such a mundane chore?!"

My kids have a chore chart. They can earn money for doing chores. They don't actually get to keep the money. It's more like a credit. The money goes on their chart and when we're shopping and they want to buy something, I deduct it from their chart. We started this a few months ago and it seems to be working so far. But sometimes it backfires, like today.

I let my 5 year old "help" me with the recycling. It was a little too much for him to carry. So I carried 2 of the bottles. I followed him to the garage. He needed me to open the door. I opened the door for him. I followed him to the recycling container. He couldn't open the lid. I opened the lid for him. I put the 2 bottles in that I was carrying. He dropped his on the floor. So I helped pick them up. I know at this age, it's more the idea of having kids help with the chores, but today I really wished that I didn't get any "help."