What next?

Source: helpmegrowutah.blogspot.com

I stumbled upon a great idea for getting kids to help out around the house. The Ezzos say that we should require our children to do chores, and these chores should be family chores. Having our kids do family chores encourages them to take care of people other than themselves. I agree that this is important. And I love kids who are mature enough to ask what they can do to help out.

Today, the kids and I were doing a mad dash to clean the house, and as we cleaned, William kept coming up to me asking, “What next?” I loved it! There was so much to be done, and I really needed his help. His “What next?” told me that not only was he cleaning up as I asked, but he was coming back for more.

Honestly, I can’t tell you the motivation behind his request for more work. I like to believe it came from the goodness of his heart. But a part of me thinks he was thinking he would get to play on the iPad as soon as we were done. I’m choosing to believe the heart idea. :)

No matter where it came from, I’m going to continue to encourage them to ask what’s next. These two simple words can do so much in getting our chores done and teaching them to help others–out of the goodness of their hearts and as a standard course of business.