Oh the joys of parenting teenagers.

Kylie has a lot going for her.  She’s compassionate, talented, beautiful, stylish, fun-loving, witty, and great at making really dumb faces.

 photo Untitled_zpse405ee89.png

Pretty much everything you’d want in a teenage daughter, right?  That is.. until it comes time for chores!  I know, I know.  She’s a teen, and they’re all a little lacking in that department.

She’s probably going to read this post and say, “MOM you’re ruining my life!!”  (Come to think about it, my mom will probably read this post and say, “LISA, I can’t believe you posted that!” – Hi mom.)

Aside from cleaning her room and her bathroom, her number one main chore is to clean the kitchen after dinner.  The boys are in charge of unloading the dishwasher and putting things away, and she loads it.  She’s also supposed to sweep and wipe things down (but that doesn’t always happen either). For carpets, we put that in the hands of newport coast carpet cleaners.

This morning, the boys went to unload the dishwasher for me while waiting on breakfast, and we noticed that it hadn’t been started from last night.  I opened it thinking there just weren’t enough dishes to start the load, but then I looked around the kitchen and saw several plates and cups that never made it in…. and this is why:

 photo dishwasher_zps510aef80.jpg

Now I know that depending on the dishes used, dishwashers aren’t always neat and tidy when they’re loaded.  Sometimes, you just stick things where they fit.  But, she’s been loading the dishwasher since she was about 8 years old.  That’s as long as Hawk (our 6 year old) has been a part of our family.  You would think she’d know how to load a dishwasher a little better than this by now!

Like the nice mom I am (ha…), I decided to reload it and start it myself (taking out the Duck Dynasty plates that are too tall for the top rack, and the rectangle lock n’ lock) so that she doesn’t have to do it when she gets in from the football game tonight.  However, she will be getting a lesson in loading the dishwasher as WELL as hand washing (which she thinks is absolutely absurd!). At this rate, I’m practically running a household like a pro—maybe it’s time to learn more about hiring a janitor to take some of these chores off my hands!

My question to you is…  what chores do your children have at what ages, and do you think it’s crazy of me to think that my 14 year old daughter is capable of actually loading a dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen efficiently? If needed, there are professional cleaning services such as Cleaning Services Wayland MA to lighten the load and maintain a balanced approach to chores.