Tina Tarbutton

We've had a pretty neat couple of days here when it comes to everyone
being helpful and I wanted to share.

Up until about 9-12 months ago our 10 y/o son, Draven, had chores.
Not many chores, but some, mainly emptying the litter box daily, and
taking care of the dishes throughout the day. When we started taking
over the chores my partner and I both had moments of "why are we doing
everything now" but for the most part between her and I one of us was
always willing to joyfully take on a task and complete it. We still
asked him for help with stuff but quite often reminded him that he
could say no, or ask us to wait until he was in a place that he could
save his game. Sometimes he helped with a bad attitude, sometimes he
helped cheerfully, sometimes he said no.

A few weeks ago we let Draven get a kitten, but that kitten was lonely
because our older cats didn't want anything to do with him, so my
partner picked out a kitten, then I felt left out and I picked out a
kitten. We now have a total of 5 cats in the house. This means 2
litter boxes that have to be scooped at the very least once a day, but
we try to get it twice a day. My partner has always had a problem
with the litter box (she gets physically ill) so typically I took care
of it, with the occasional help from Draven. This past 2 weeks though
things have worked out incredibly well. Draven and I kind of got into
a routine of switching off days, however I did it 3 or 4 days in a row
once and he noticed and offered to do it the next 2 days in a row.
Last night he asked if I would do it and instead my partner said she
would try. She had a really hard time with it and it was so sweet
that Draven was the first one to say "Ma, you don't have to make
yourself sick, I'll finish it" and she said no, she wanted to do it.
Then I chimed in and said to please let me do it. She again said no.
Then Draven went into the hallway and held the bag for her to make it
a little easier, and then took it out to the dumpster.

Another really cool moment was a few nights ago. I had gotten into a
cleaning mood and attacked the kitchen with a vengeance. As I said in
another post, we're fighting bugs so while I was deep cleaning
everything I was spraying bug killer into every crack and crevice I
could find. It took me hours and after I was done the top half I was
just exhausted. Draven came in to check on me and asked if he could
help. I mentioned that it would be a huge help if he could wipe the
spots off of the bottom cabinets. Well he started on the cabinets,
then asked if he could do the stove and the dishwasher, then started
wiping down the walls. Then climbed up on the counter and cleaned the
top of the fridge. I kept him company and we laughed and worked
together for another few hours and he was so joyful about it.

While we were doing that, my partner was back in the bedroom, I
figured she was watching a movie or something. Well when I went back
there, she had completely cleaned the entire room for us.

It was just so neat to be all working together to get our house back in shape.

Last night I decided to tackle my sons bathroom. He said if I got the
toilet and the tub, he'd get the sink. He even took everything out
from under the sink and reorganized it.

What a nice experience we've had!

Tina