It's hard enough to be a single parent, but when single mom SongBird130 decided to go back to college at night (while working during the day) she really needed to set the house rules straight with her HS senior and college junior kids. This is what she came up with:
To the humans of this house: This week we will all become busy students with jobs, homework and studying. There is no maid, butler, laundress, cook, valet, errand runner or other help employed here.
- Do your dishes
- Feed yourself
- Pick up your mess
- Sort & put away your laundry
- Yes - you can buy a few groceries
- BE A GROWN UP
- I'll pay the utilities, insurance & mortgage
Apparently, Meg is in charge of working out and Wes gets to play with the power washer:
Now, if only I can assign my work out routine to one of my kids, that'll vastly improve my day!
Mom later updated the story to explain the whiteboard:
"We communicate via this whiteboard in the kitchen and have for years. It is amazingly helpful. We eat together when we can. I cook and leave leftover meals. Yes my classes are at night and work all day. I do the laundry. They just have to sort. Avoids mistakes on my part. Meg is very thin and beautiful. She wants to be stronger. Wes likes to power wash. They are Dean's list students and have jobs. We all have to break the cycle of leaving messes and things undone. I love them more than life itself. They give me my reason to get up each day."
There is no college in our town, so they are expected to move out to go, and will need to know the skills to live without Mom around.