This is our son at age 4 using the original vacuum cleaner before he got his very own.
My son is 9 years old and just got his second vacuum cleaner. You read that correctly. My son has had the household chore of vacuuming since he was 4-years-old. When he was 5, we walked through a department store’s television section where an advertisement about a particular kind of vacuum cleaner was being played on all of the TVs. He stood mesmerized and weeks later when he sat on Santa’s lap, he asked for that kind of vacuum cleaner. He felt that vacuuming would be so much easier with this fancy equipment…and maybe even fun. Well, Santa did not disappoint. My husband said “Well, it’s an expensive vacuum cleaner but we need a new one anyway. Who cares if he wants to call it HIS vacuum cleaner?” When my son opened the gift in front of extended family members on Christmas morning, he jumped with joy. No one could believe their eyes: a 5-year-old that was excited to get a vacuum cleaner. He couldn’t wait to get it out of the box and test it out. It was a great vacuum cleaner for four years but recently it bit the dust (pun intended). At age 9, he probably would not be thrilled to have a new vacuum cleaner as a Christmas gift – but he was excited to get the new one recently. And he still calls it HIS vacuum cleaner. Just a few days ago, a friend of mine was talking about a vacuum cleaner that was getting hot while she was using it, and my son commented “Yeah, my new vacuum cleaner does that too.” I love that he takes ownership of this chore around our home. I can remember my mom letting me pick the cleaners that I would use to clean the bathrooms when I was young. Getting to pick the scrubbing bubble brand made it more fun for me to do this chore. Pretty soon, I’m thinking that my son will be put in charge of taking out the garbage, I might want to consider letting him be in charge of which garbage bags are purchased for the home or maybe even choose the next garbage can when it’s time to replace the old one. So today when my son gathered all of the family’s laundry in his usual way: by putting the hamper on a skateboard and wheeling it to our laundry room; I smiled realizing that he is learning an important life skill by figuring out how to do a job efficiently, creatively and in a fun way.
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