Today’s lesson was about housework and good observing work. How come a mom’s mental load is so heavy? Because she is so good at observing what needs to be done.
I heard a mom’s story about using this phrase and the effects of it. And when traveling, when her kids used the public bathroom which was pretty disgusting, the kids told her that someone should be doing better observing work in the bathroom.
Kids and adults who are not trained to notice, they won’t do it. Think of the backsplash tiles behind your stove. The name of it says it all, it catches the splashes from cooking. If you don’t clean it, you don’t notice how many oil splashes have accumulated over time.
The sink in the girls bathroom always has steaks of toothpaste running toward the drain. I always clean it. The last few days I left it there. And I didn’t point it out when helping Ivy to brush her teeth. They don’t remember to clean it themselves. After years of telling them to wipe it. Today I told her to do some observing of the sink. Without me towering over. Just go do some observing.
When I ask Jackie if she likes the way her room looks, when it’s a mess of clothes, toys and books, she answers that she does like it. We tidy together, I tidy for them, I let them do it. It never ends. I asked her to go do some noticing today.
I hope this new approach makes a difference. In my investment it sure does. I have showed them how to clean. I’m not as stressed they don’t do it in my own timeframe. I’ll just have to ask them: “go do some noticing.”