I'm a mean parent!

Know what's fun about living out in the woods after your kids spent a large portion of their “grow up” time in the city, learning that you are a “mean parent”. I have found out today that I am not the only one thought this following link is to one of the blogs I follow seems he's a “mean parent” too!

http://ricksturningpoint.blogspot.com/2011/02/pushing-my-kids.html?showComment=1298896036191#c1075408140277668567

I was politely informed (my teary eyed screaming preteen girl) that they shouldn't have to do any work on the week ends or when they get home from school because they “worked” at school all day. Uh-huh... I don't think that’s gonna fly here right now. After my daughter informed me of this I very calmly (which I have to say I was very calm.. and can also say I didn't break out laughing at the idea either) told her what did she think would happen when we finally get our animals here? That we'd let them feed themselves and have them clean up after themselves?

That's when I was told I was mean, now mind you they were only asked to move ten log pieces a piece. A log piece was only about1 ½ ft long, and if they were too heavy they could use our hand truck to move them. You'd also think with two of the three kids out in the field doing it they'd work together (son by the way was repileing the remainder of our foam insulation), yes you would think they would... but sadly no.

the younger girl said her older sister wouldn't let her use the hand truck.. which of course the older girl said she would. So considering we had already spent 2 hours of time with younger girl crying and screaming about how unfair it was she had to do some work and her older sister wandering around for the same time. My son taking his sweet time by picking up the pieces of foam one at a time and slowly walking to the pile taking his time. Seems he didn't want to move log pieces while his youngest sibling was having a fit... I don't blame him.

So I came up with a solution, told the youngest if she really thinks that about her sister, fine. Had the older girl come into the building and sat her on a stool while her sister did her work, and would send her out when the younger one was done. Well, after the initial scream over that idea ten minutes later she was done. So I told her, “you do realize that if you had just done that little bit of work you would have been done hours ago?” She responded with a yes but that I was mean for making her do any work, now mind you she is 11 and her sister is 12; so it's not like I was asking a 5 year old to do it.

The other “reason” they think they shouldn't do any work is they say their friends don't do any. Again I managed to not laugh at my child at this idea; then I pointed out that we were now living in the country and that the farm kids generally did to work. Even in this “modern” era of farming, there are generally chores if the family has a “personal” cow, for milk or beef; or (wow) the friend of theirs that has the horse. Well I guess for a child who wants a horse the idea of taking care of it doesn't enter into their minds, I guess children just need to learn the hard way sometimes.

You know I always worry about posting something like this as I always hear how people who “homestead” or live on farms seem to have an easy time getting their kids to do things so it bugs me sometimes that if it's something we need done I have to fight over it with the kids. Which I don't want to do, and it makes it so I can't do work if I have to stand over them to get the work I set them. I always tend to wonder how these “super parents” manage it, now saying this my kids do have moments where they will do things I ask then and have utterly no problem with it. The problem is right now we need to clear out the place our house is going to go and with Silver having his RA flare up with the changes the weather has been going through in the last couple of weeks having the kids move pieces of log.. a few a day doesn't sound all that rough to me. However, it seems the kids think it's a horrible thing.; by the time I was 5 I knew if my parents told me to do something I better do it. Maybe it's just a generational thing, and the kids now who spend a lot of time playing the aforementioned video games; they don't have the capacity to do the work now?

For the record the “incident” I mentioned before happened 2 weekends ago, this weekend was spring cleaning inside. Which they did with a lot better humor than the move 10 log pieces... I still don't get how what wound up being 10 minutes of work was the “bad” job while spending almost all day cleaning house was OK?

Maybe it's just me...

Be well and Blessed Be...