It’s strange, I don’t remember being quite as deaf as my kids are these days. Or the fact that they don’t seem to understand English OR French, especially when they have chores to do. This is troublesome, as they've been in French Immersion since kindergarten. I'd hate to think that all that time in class was wasted.
Then again, I was a teenager once and I think I remember when my folks used to speak Urdu most of the day. They used to snap out of it at meal times because I always remember when Mom would call us to the table. Other than that, it was all Urdu, all the time. I wonder if there is some sort of correlation? Someone should start a study or something….
The curious thing about these teenagers is that if you ask them what chores need to be done, they can quote you line by line, exactly as it was laid out for them. So I ask them, why isn't it done that way? The look of blank incredulousness is worthy of the cover of National Geographic. Kind of like the Lemurs, big eyes and all.
There seems to be a disconnect between the brain and the hands when it comes to teens doing the chores at home. They will swear up and down that the job is done, but the tools to do the job are sitting in the same place they were last summer. Haven't moved. Stuck to the floor. Need a chisel to pry them free.
When you show them the evidence, the blank look returns and they so innocently say "You mean you wanted it done again this year?" They are perfectly willing to use a machete to get to the back gate for the rest of the summer, instead of mowing the lawn once a week.
They will make the effort to run down to the basement bathroom to do their business, until it becomes very much like the upstairs bathroom, or as we call it, The Room That Shall Not Be Named! All because they haven't cleaned it for two weeks.
My wife insisted we get a dishwasher, since we were getting so busy with after school activities. I said we had three perfectly capable dishwashers already. Good argument, isn't it? I lost anyway. Now we have a new, clean, pristine dishwasher installed. It looks like it will stay that way because all the dishes we own are dirty and sitting on the kitchen counter above it. I think the word 'automatic' has thrown the kids for a loop. They seem to think it's a self-loading appliance.
Here's another crazy thing. When the kids are over at their friend's house, they offer to help with their chores without being asked. When their friend's parents ask me how we raised them to be such good helpers, I have to say, "It's a secret". I sure don't know what we did. Maybe I should get my kids' friends over here to do our chores. That's it! A child exchange! I may be onto something.
In the meantime, I have to head out to the backyard. A neighbour's cat was seen entering a day or so ago and there hasn't been a sign of it since. There was some rustling of the grass in the far corner this morning, and the dog is too chicken to investigate, so I am going to take a look. Hand me the machete and if I'm not back by morning, send out the search parties.
As the kids aunt, I can testify to the randomness of 'help'. Whenever I suggest that one or more come to help at my house - I get the blank lemur look. When they come on their own, well, let's just say tehy feel right at home and I usually have to do a walk around the house to collect left clothes, hair ties, used dishes, etc. Maybe it's because we're family ...
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