Every child dreaded house chores especially on Saturdays. The house work seemed back to back. The time that would have been spent watching television or playing friends was invested in ‘hard labour’. In the African culture, house chores are mandatory child upbringing process. It taught us the beauty of hard work, perseverance, team work, problem solving and cleanliness.
In fact, any child who didn’t know how to common house chores was tagged useless. It was a skill that would prepare the child for adulthood. As tasking as the house chores were, there was joy in fulfilling them especially when accompanied with a ‘pat on the back’ and ‘well done’. These are some childhood house chores I think we hated:
1. Washing clothes
Do you know the feeling of washing clothes only for more to be added to the pile? That experience is not funny. Washing your own clothes does not feel so tasking, you do it to your taste. When washing for others, it can seem so stressful and boring.
2. Washing plates
We all enjoy the eating part but when it comes to washing plates, nobody likes especially with oily pots and greasy utensils. The look alone at dirty plates is a turn-off. Most people don’t like washing loads of plates.
3. Cleaning toilet
You know you have to keep it clean to do your business well. It is not a nice experience cleaning a toilet that everybody uses. If it is messy, that is even more serious.
4. Mopping the floor
Suddenly, the floors in the house appear endless. But you know you have to clean every corner. It is more annoying when you are mopping and people step on the way.
5. Cutting grass
If we could find the perfect excuse to run away from this tedious house chore we would. Cutting grass under the sun is torturing. For those of us who attended boarding school, I guess we don’t mind.
6. Ironing
Some people love ironing though. Others who don’t know that it is not funny to see creases on the clothes after all the effort you put in ironing.
7. Cooking
Everybody loves the end result result but not the process. The same thing with cooking. Going to the market, washing the ingredients and all the preparation can be tasking but when food is ready, it is great feeling.