1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
In looking for “chore” quotes for this rant, most finds were negative—chores are a bother, tedious, annoying, boring, or according to Simone de Beauvoir, “like the torture of Sisyphus.” Children generally are “doing” chores as a way to get something else—such as an allowance, privileges, or other favors from parents. Grown-ups do chores just to get them done. Most households have a hierarchy of chores—some chores being expressly reserved as punishment.
The word “chore” carries a decidedly negative connotation. It wasn’t always that way—the Oxford English Dictionary calls a chore a “small piece of domestic work, a little job.” That sounds nice! This is what I’ve come up with: an oft recurring task for maintenance of personal or community well-being, done out of necessity for health, hygiene, or domestic harmony. The writer Barbara Kingsolver called homemaking chores “the measured pace of nurturing routines,” which I really like.
There should be joy in chores, because there should be joy in work. Chores are a subset of work. Chores are not big projects, or work outside the home for salaries, interests, and benefits, but a necessary kind of work nonetheless. As Christians, we are called to work (I Corinthians 15:58), and all our work should be done as “unto the Lord.” Let’s take a look at the benefits of keeping up a “measured pace of nurturing routines.”
1. Chores establish useful skills and contribute to self-confidence.
The youngest member of the household will testify—the excitement of “helping take out the garbage” can be immense. There is a right way to complete this task— being on time so that bad smells and overflows do not ensue, closing a trash bag correctly, making sure a new trash bag takes its place immediately, or even sorting trash into recycling, burn pile, and dump bound as my family did. Setting the table correctly is not just a skill, but has the snowball contribution of self-respect in that you need never suffer embarrassment from cutlery in any situation.
We had nothing fancy in my home growing up, but we did set the table for breakfast and dinner, every day. I have never been astonished by any table setting in formal social settings because of that early training. Many things we take for granted, like cracking eggs or boiling water, were once fraught with danger or mishap. Being taught the right way to break an egg or use a stove top makes the even the young ones useful contributors, and boosts skills.
There is, by the way, a wrong way to break an egg, according to Audrey Hepburn’s film character, Sabrina, who was sent to culinary school—“new egg.”
2. Chores establish good habits.
Habits are what we do! Like brushing your teeth after dinner, or making your bed every morning, the more good habits you establish, the less those habits feel like work. Washing your hands after using the restroom is only a chore (negativity implied) if you never established the habit. Putting art supplies away after they’ve been used saves the trouble of “the big clean up” later on. Loading the dishwasher after each meal saves the trouble of a sink full of dirty dishes that no one remembers using. Teach your children the value of personal care and home making skills so they are ingrained.
3. Chores connect us to our family and community.
The “nurturing routine” of cleaning a bathroom may be immediately critical if a family member has a cold or flu, but just as important are the small chores at the church—weeding the grounds, vacuuming the sanctuary, or washing dishes after a potluck dinner. The small domestic jobs of the home translate into helping out in our communities at large—and we are able to share our skills for the good of others.
A child capable of bagging and carrying out trash at home can do that in a community setting, or a child capable of dishwashing at home can share that skill to everyone’s delight and approbation after a community meal. An older child accustomed to making a family meal once a week or mowing the neighbor’s lawn (planning, preparing, serving) will have all the skills necessary to direct a myriad of other social tasks.
Our next post will look at three more reasons to love chores!