As much as you loathe washing the dishes, your kid likes it even less. That’s why you’re met with an eyeroll or a small tantrum when you request they get to scrubbing. So sometimes it feels easier to avoid the tears and just wash it all yourself, right? But it turns out, we should hold our ground, mamas - because kids who do chores become successful adults.
"By making them do chores — taking out the garbage, doing their own laundry,” explains Julie Lythcott-Haims, former dean of freshmen at Stanford University, “they realize I have to do the work of life in order to be part of life."
As she points out in her recent TED Talk about her research, if kids aren’t doing the dishes, it means someone else is doing that for them. And that means they’re not only getting away with not doing the work, they’re also not learning that work has to be done and we each have to contribute to get it done.
Lythcott-Haims believes children who grow up doing jobs around the house will end up being better employees who have the skills to collaborate with coworkers, will be more empathetic toward others, and can work independently. And if your kid actually does the dishes, that means you don’t have to. And that’s a win-win for sure.
Source: Cosmopolitan