Dear Aussie parents, drop the damn vacuum

Ally says:

10:27am | 23/11/12

I don’t think it’s about “who has the best kids” at all. It’s about teaching kids how to look after themselves and their houses at a basic level, not to mention teaching them to contribute to a shared environment.

I know a couple of young adults that still live at home and do absolutely nothing for themselves. They don’t cook, they don’t do their own washing, they don’t contribute to bills, they don’t do any of the cleaning. Parents might think they’re just looking after their kids but they’re setting their kids up for a massive shock if and when they eventually move out.

Kika says:

11:53am | 23/11/12

You are right. Plus the type of cleaning agents we use these days are all chemicals and very very strong whereas in the past our Nana’s would have used more simple household products to clean. Yes, more germs but at least kids’ immune systems were strengthened. What happened to baking powder and lemon people?

Matt says:

12:35pm | 23/11/12

Disagee Ally. I was one of them, until I was 25yo.

At home - No board, didn’t contribute to bills, home cooked meals every day cooked by mum, never did any chores.

The savings enabled me to buy a hosue at 25 and as soon as I moved out you know what happened? I cooked, I did my chores, I keep my house clean and I live my life exactly the same as someone who did these things whilst at home.

I have mates who were the same. We all agree - we knew we had it good at home. Just because we didn’t do those things (pay bills, clean, cook) doesn’t mean we didn’t know they need to be done or how to do them.

leelee says:

01:20pm | 23/11/12

I’m with you, Mahhrat.

My motto is “a spotless house is a sign of a wasted life”. I have better things to do with my life than keep the house in show home conditions.

It is clean, hygienic and safe. Untidy? Often. Do I care. Not one iota.

Ben says:

01:56pm | 23/11/12

In reply to Matt… how did you not doing any cooking or cleaning help you save money? I think it is great you managed to save money and buy a house at your age. I’m 35 and still not there…but how on earth did you not helping to keep your home clean save you money?

e says:

02:38pm | 23/11/12

So Matt…you congratulate yourself for cooking, cleaning etc when you moved out of home but openly acknowledge you totally took advantage of your family (presumably your mother) when you were living at home. You say that you knew that all those things needed to get done, you were perfectly capable of doing them but chose instead to be lazy and selfish.
Bravo.

Mum not slave says:

04:15pm | 23/11/12

As a Mum, I have to agree with e. Mothers (or women in general) don’t have a ‘cooking’ gene that makes them rush to the shops, collect the food and then turn on the stove at 5pm.
It’s called ‘contributing’, and I’m sure your mother already had a gutful of her unpaid, repetitive hours of cooking and cleaning before you turned 18.
And as an adult living in the house, you didn’t contribute a cent to the cost of your keep, let alone the unspoken - but real - cost of her labour. Shame on you!

Sickemrex says:

05:31pm | 23/11/12

It’s ok e and Mum not slave, hopefully if Matt has kids, they will walk all over him too.

David V. says:

09:57am | 23/11/12

You could be in China and have pigs fed on landfill. Would anyone become immune to the poisons people eat in China?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcQVCQUdS8

scott says:

10:00am | 23/11/12

Your kid is average

Gladys says:

10:20am | 23/11/12

@ Scott I don’t care. She cleaned up after herself when she was at someone else’s house!!

She’s also putting her toys away at night and making her bed (sort of).

And she’s fully toilet trained.

Ally says:

10:30am | 23/11/12

I see your 4 year old and raise you my 2 1/2 year old niece, who puts all her cups and bowls in the sink, but also actively looks for bits of rubbish to put in the bin.

Rose says:

10:43am | 23/11/12

Four year old…fully toilet trained….I should bloody well hope so!!!

Rose says:

11:01am | 23/11/12

It’s actually a piece of cake to get young kids to do little tasks, they love making mummy and daddy happy and if they get praise putting dishes on the sink or picking up their toys they will continue to do it and lap up the attention. Once they hit school and start to find find more interesting ways to fill their day, and they start talking to other kids who don’t have to do things, and start having and expressing independent thoughts and get the idea that they should get money or stuff for jobs, then it becomes impressive that kids still do stuff off their own bat.
By the way, nearly every kid behaves better at other people’s homes than they do at their own home, it’s just the way it is.
On the other hand, be proud of your little girl, every kid should be so lucky as to have parents who genuinely enjoy them an are openly proud of them!!

Robert Smissen of country SA says:

11:35am | 23/11/12

My daughter was 25mt old when her brother was born, I told her that whilst we still loved her very much that she’d need to help her mother to look after the baby. 34 years later & she still looks out for her 3 brothers as well as her own 3 kids not to mention working with GOM kids in a Kindergarten

Tom says:

11:52am | 23/11/12

Be proud of your daughter, and keep encouraging her to do right. She sounds polite and respectful, good on her. Dont listen to the discouraging replies.

Robert Smissen of country SA says:

12:37pm | 23/11/12

Thanks Tom, I’d like to think that she was put on earth for a purpose, like her Nana before her she seems touch a lot of lives, many, many people tell me how she had helped the & touched their lives, I am in total awe of her, I love her & her brothers deeply.

steve says:

01:00pm | 23/11/12

You people need to stop teaching your kids bad habits.  Dirty dishes do not go into the sink, they go on in the dishwasher.  And if the dishwasher is going they go in orderly piles on the bench.

Leah says:

03:34pm | 23/11/12

Gladys, I would wonder what’s wrong if your 4yo WASN’T toilet trained. That’s not brag-worthy :-\

However while Rose is right that a lot of kids behave better for other people than their own families, there are also a lot of kids these days who don’t give a toss about anybody and expect everyone else to do everything for them, so good on her for at least being able to clean up after herself.

Peter says:

04:31pm | 23/11/12

@Ally, I see your 2 1/2 old with a just over two year old who puts her nappies into the bin since she was 1 1/2 and climbs like a mountain goat. She is a terrible two now so you can have her!!!!! Very cute and very cheeky! She has been teasing me constantly for the past six months and only forgets to tease me when she is scared (runs off in a shopping centre)

Schultz says:

05:57pm | 23/11/12

@Peter. I see your 18month old who climbs like a mountain goat and puts her own nappies in the bin and raise you my three month old that is fully toilet trained, cooks dinner on occaision, hangs out her own washing and Karchers the windows every weekend.

My child is better than yours.

Peter says:

10:16am | 23/11/12

And beat them with a stick, if you have one handy.  God dam kids.

Ridge says:

10:52am | 23/11/12

Reward them with a carrot, now you’re getting it!

iansand says:

11:07am | 23/11/12

Or hit them with a carrot and kill two birds with one stone.

Sam says:

11:38am | 23/11/12

Or use the birds as you minions to keep an eye on them and drop carrots on their heads when they slack off. Meanwhile you can go watch the cricket.

Bea Riel says:

12:43pm | 23/11/12

Hmm perhaps you have lower standards of cleanliness or they all have clean partners?  You can rationalise anything…

jjohn says:

06:28pm | 23/11/12

I’m just saying that your behaviour isn’t always a product of your parents. I hope my children can think for themselves.

Joel M-J says:

10:24am | 23/11/12

Thanks Economist!

I’ve been struggling with my El-Cheapo Vacuum for a while now.

Going to check this one out.

Nathan Explosion says:

10:24am | 23/11/12

I got an awesome bagless Hoover for about $150. It’s pretty loud, so we just lock the cats in another room.

Economist says:

10:54am | 23/11/12

I paid about $380 for it at Harvey Norman, it came with $300s worth of Jamie Oliver frying pans. Keep your eye out for deals. It has all appropriate attachments and uses universal bags. I find bagless vaccums don’t have anywhere near the same suction and upright vaccums are useless for getting under beds, couches, tv cabinets, even the dining room table. Uprights are for people who like to look clean, but accept layers of dust under everything.

Harry D Fish says:

10:59am | 23/11/12

For what it’s worth I have a Sauber Intelligence.  Not cheap at 1600 but practically takes the carpet off the floor.  Spend well, expensive and wisely and your cleaner can be like my great grandmothers original electolux from the 30s I still have and use to vacuum the car.

Gary T says:

11:57am | 23/11/12

I have a wife. Before that I had a mother. Both top quality but the wife is more expensive to run

Nathan Explosion says:

12:26pm | 23/11/12

@Economist

Mine isn’t an upright, and has all the cool attachments. We have polished floorboards, and it’s great gor getting in the corners and skirting boards.

Economist says:

01:18pm | 23/11/12

Mr Explosion you want to have a vaccum cleaner measuring contest! Well the Rowenta has a telescopic extension, with a pointy head for geting into those tight corners. It’s silent but deadly.

Did I mention that it’s black!

Garry says:

10:28am | 23/11/12

At least we know how to do it. It’s people like you who normally pay someone else to do stuff for them (cook food, clean house, wash car, pet minding, lawn mowing, etc) who’ll feel the pinch the most when all the money disappears.

Banker says:

11:02am | 23/11/12

I have the same chance of winning the lottery so I’d say the risk is hedged.

Leila says:

11:45am | 23/11/12

Anything with bleach will eat slowly into your tiles and doesn’t kill the bleach, thats why mould keeps growing back in the same place. I prefer Shower Power and Mould power which aren’t bleach based and are an Aussie company

sunny says:

12:52pm | 23/11/12

I believe I will embark on yet another quest to seek the meaning of these new words you speak, for I shall not rest until I can optimise both laziness AND effectiveness when cleaning my bathroom ..iow cheers I’ll check it out

Electric Blue says:

03:48pm | 23/11/12

You do not need expensive cleaners to kill mould…besides bleach does not kill mould.

White vinegar kills mould beautifully. We had a slipped tile which caused a slight leak. A patch of mould appeared on the ceiling. Once the slipped tile was fixed I just kept spraying white vinegar onto the mould every few days and it went away and hasn’t come back…this was close to 2 years ago.

White vinegar is also so much cheaper.

Audra Blue says:

04:04pm | 23/11/12

I was treated as an indentured servant as a child and as a result I HATE, LOATHE AND DESPITE housework, even though I love a clean house.  What I hate most is doing the dishes.

Since my son moved in with me, everything is more:  more dishes, more garbage produced, more toilet paper used, more soap scum in the bath.  And it’s nearly impossible to keep up.  I would love a dishwasher, it would solve the fights and keep the kitchen clean.  But the landlord won’t put one in and I only really need it when he’s there.

On my own, I don’t make any mess.

At least he’ll be moving out next month and I can go back to having a clean, girly smelling apartment again.

Kate says:

10:55am | 23/11/12

That’s gross… what’s his name so I make sure I don’t EVER date him?

I had a few like that, no amount of reminding or talking seems to work long term. One who would leave clumps of his hair in the bottom of the shower (and I mean a fistful every week… I don’t know how he had any hair left), and another who would come home and cook up a storm, then disappear off to her boyfriend’s for a week leaving piles of dirty dishes.

The straw that broke the camel’s back though was the one who cut his toenails on the coffee table, and left the clippings there. Moved out the next week following a massive fight over cleaning. I hear he’s still the same…

Rose says:

11:07am | 23/11/12

I lived with a neat freak once, it was hell on earth. I had to sew a button on my work uniform one day and I was already cutting it fine to get to work on time. I left the needle, scissors and cotton on a side table and didn’t put it away properly. I didn’t realize her parents were visiting that day and I got a huge spray when I got home about leaving the flat in such a mess (seriously, one roll of cotton, a pair of scissors and a needle!! Everything else was spotless).
I moved out very soon afterwards!!

Ally says:

11:16am | 23/11/12

Yeah, but it’s not really about making your kids in to neat freaks, it’s about ensuring they know the basics so they’re not confronted by a washing machine and not know how it works.

Besides, I reckon neat freaks are going to turn out that way regardless of how their parents bring them up. My parents keep a neat and tidy house, but not obsessively so. We were all taught the basics. Now, my brother and I veer towards doing the minimum required to clean our houses, while our sister runs a much, much tighter ship.

Lee says:

12:05pm | 23/11/12

I’d so enjoy watching a sitcom based on your housemate’s peculiarities.

Audra Blue says:

04:07pm | 23/11/12

OMG she reminds me of the psycho sister I no longer speak to!

Rose says:

11:14am | 23/11/12

Talk about lowering the bar!!
It may not be your priority to have your son complete homework, but you could well be setting him up for all types of strife at school, there will be a price to pay for not completing homework, but it appears you’re not to fussed that he’ll suffer because you “have other priorities’.
You may not be aiming to turn out a fully developed human being, but at least most of us are giving it a bloody good shot!!

Rose says:

11:17am | 23/11/12

I do apologize, for some reason I read ‘homework’ instead of ‘housework’....

Kika says:

11:56am | 23/11/12

But Rachel - what about his poor future spouse/wife/partner? You are setting them up to be your son’s slave. We are working more and more hours equally so it’s only fair your son learns to pick up the vacuum and help out.

Rachel says:

12:57pm | 23/11/12

I don’t believe that I have raised a son who is inconsiderate and lazy. I certainly hope I haven’t raised a son who would allow a woman to slave for him. I think that is the real point. I expect him to clean up after himself, and make a contribution to the maintenance of the household, and he suffers the natural consequences when he doesn’t.
I don’t think that housework is something that must be taught, particularly in childhood. It’s fairly self evident, and I expect that he will do it when it’s necessary.  As I have said, I have other priorities, and just to be clear, they are my priorities for raising him, not my priorities for myself.

Leah says:

03:55pm | 23/11/12

“It’s fairly self evident, and I expect that he will do it when it’s necessary. “

The problem is, Rachel, for a lot of people it’s not “fairly self-evident”. If they’ve been constantly cleaned up after their whole life they often expect it to continue.

Your son’s age really would have a lot to do with this. If he’s 4 then I understand your attitude. Most of the time it’s more efficient to do the cleaning yourself than teach your 4 year old how to do it and potentially fix up any problems they’ve actually created while trying to clean. But if he’s 14 then I do think making sure he learns how to cook (even just basic stuff), do the laundry, clean windows, clean the bathroom, vacuum etc should be a priority. They are life skills like reading, writing, manners, working in a team, etc.

Rachel says:

05:45pm | 23/11/12

He is 15 and he knows how to do all of that. He even does it occasionally. I just don’t make him. My priorities are his studies, his job and spending time together as a family, in no particular order. And he’s not ‘a lot of people’. He is my son, I know him quite well, and he’ll be fine, just as I was. There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to raising children.

Mum not slave says:

04:26pm | 23/11/12

Of course it’s all your Mum’s fault you refused to co-operate!
Mum wasn’t nice when she complained about your messy room, how mean of her!
Still have some growing up to do I see.

Maryjane says:

06:35pm | 23/11/12

Robert you’re lucky she didn’t hit you.  Never, ever tell a parent where they’re going wrong.  Even if they ask you.  Just quietly stop being their friend.

Question says:

02:09pm | 23/11/12

.....are you implying that its NOT your responsibilty to teach your children how to cook and clean for themselves so that their skills can be applied in later life? If not you, then who?

Faith says:

06:13pm | 23/11/12

Um, it is the teachers job of course!
They have to teach kids everything else, why not cooking an cleaning too?
These days your job as a parent is done once you have given birth and weaned the kid onto solids, then it’s back to work and kid is in paid care until school. That is what you pay the careers for and why you go back to work so soon.
But as long as the kids wears expensive clothes, then it doesn’t matter if they can’t clean or cook.