And the other day out in the middle of nowhere I met an interesting man that has 4 kids.
He told me that all he does is go to work and maybe once a week signs a few checks. His kids do everything else.
It's kind of a rotation system where they all have responsibilities. The younger ones cook and clean and do various maintenence around the house and the oldest is responsible for all of the bills.
The second oldest can now drive and is responsible for all of the shopping. He's also responsible for half the laundry.The next one down the line runs the entire kitchen, does all of the cooking and prepares the menus. She's responsible for the other half of the laundry. She's given a budget for food that as is the oldest that pays the bills.
The cleaning is split up among all four kids but the youngest gets a somewhat bigger share because she's not quite old enough to do the other things. I think the youngest is responsible for feeding the pets, too.
About once a week dad consults with the oldest and the third oldest and does a quick check if finances and signs the necessary checks and the bills go out.
It's an interesting sysem because as the kids leave the house they will be familliar with practically all aspects of day to day life of running a household.
It also gives each child an important sense of responsibility.
Sounds pretty good to me.
What interests me is what is going to happen to these kids as they move out and marry. On the other hand I think that these kids are likely not apt to marry an incompetent mate. Time will tell.
Still, that sounds like a pretty good way to raise a bunch of kids.
Update.
I wrote this post a couple of days ago and the weather shifted and I have been socked in for a couple of days. I'm going out today just to escape again.
Back in. I tried to head in a different direction today but it seemed that all roads lead to Rome, in this case the city. I finally got fed up and when I crossed an expressway I got on it and headed north and into farm country.
When I had cleared the fringes of suburbia I got off the highway and started tooling along a secondary road I kept my eyes peeled for smaller roads that actually go somewhere and took one. There was a sign saying that the next turn led to a hamlet of sorts and I took that.
The village was several miles away and I drove at a reasonable clip. On these unpatrolled quiet roads you can generally drive as fast as you dare but I wan't in a hurry.
All in all I did manage to get out of the house and go for a decent ride.
Sounds like child abuse; man needs a maid.sr
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