Everyone has chores

December 1, 2007 by Barbara.

Reid has been interested lately in where things come from, who made them and who bought them. After a series of questions about who bought her sled, snow shovel and snowsuit to which the answer was always “Mama,” I decided that I should point out to Reid that Ken does many things to contribute to our family’s well-being. I said, “Mama does the shopping but Daddy washes our clothes for us.” Reid nodded and said, “And I do the cleaning.” Umm, no! Ken is the primary cleaner in our family, too. I resisted the urge to say, “I don’t think so, Vern” because that would have showed my age and settled on, “And you help with the cleaning.” Reid does help with the cleaning, as much as most 3 year olds do, I think.

In the same vein, we have also talked about from where clothes or things come.  The first thing to determine is whether an item was made in a factory or by someone Reid knows firsthand. For the most part, the non-factory products come from the farmers at the market - no, not from *our* farm (the Canada Agricultural Museum) - and Grandma Joyce. Reid always hopes that I will know about the factory workers and what motivates them in their job to answer her “why?” I really don’t know the answer. Reid understands that Grandma Joyce sews for her because she loves her. She still asks sometimes, though, just to hear me say it. For things that have come from a factory, we continue to establish that I do most of the shopping.

On Saturday afternoon, Reid again asked her snowsuit and I said I bought it, just like I buy most of her things. Reid said, “Aunt Jane bought my hat,” and checked her feet before continuing, “and my socks.”. It’s true. Aunt Jane does buy Reid stuff, especially cool socks with patterns. Boring old Mama-bought socks come from Old Navy in large quantities of blue or white with anti-slip writing on the bottom. Thank goodness for honourary aunts. Reid’s true and dramatic sense of sock style would otherwise be crushed.

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