Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: KIds/work/etc.

[MelaSilva (MelaSilva]

When I was growing up, every teenager had to do chores. Adults were seen
raking leaves or mowing the lawn only if they had no teenagers. Our yard
alone was almost as big as the open space in at Southside, yet we had to keep
it raked and mowed weekly, and I had to do the dinner dishes for 6 people
every day of the year except my birthday. It is really shocking to many of us
that the teens are not required to do the raking, sweeping and mowing, and
are only on a cooking team if they happen to feel like it. ( It is true that
many of the teens do childcare, and that has been great.)
 Before we moved in, in zillions of conversations, not once did a parent
offer the thought that they wouldn't allow or wouldn't require their children
to do community work. Parents are working 40 hours a week, coming home and
doing the raking and mowing and dishes while their kids play Nintendo or
soccer.

Mela Silva
Southside Park, Sacramento CA