Happy to lend a hand

There are certain things that I think my children are capable of that I expect them to do.

One of those is hang up their coats and put away their shoes as soon as we come home.

They now do it automatically whenever they come home.

Happily taking responsibility for their own belongings. 

OK so Mr Goo can only put his shoes into this box but can't replace it where it came from and he can't really hang up his coat without help, but he tries. He knows what he ought to do.

And enjoys doing it.

Mrs Goo is very good at tidying away her toys and I am trying to encourage both the children to only take out one or two toys instead of the entire cupboard or drawer. This works to varying degrees :o)
Of course, like most children they clamber to 'wash 'the dishes and 'help' me cook and bake.
When they are finished their meals they always bring their plates/bowls to the sink and drop them in. Unfortunately it means I have a few chipped bowls now after they dropped them from too high. Now they lower them in, to the best of their abilities. After dinner I quite often hand Mrs Goo a cloth to clean up the table ( I have to re do it, obviously, but she feels she has done her part in tidying and clearing).

Mr Goo is In Love with the washing machine, always has been. If he hears me put a wash on after he has gone to bed, he has been known to be Very upset about it.
I have to save it until the morning so that he can load the machine.
He can even put in the powder, complains if I put in the conditioner, and then programmes the machine to the correct programme and turns it on.

Yesterday he donned the marigolds to deal with the whites!

Maybe I expect too much of them. I know, at times, I do.
My little Mrs Goo is just so grown up. Now and again, I have to remind myself that she is only 5.

But my logic is that it is important that they take responsibility for their things and that they learn to help around the house.
Can't be a bad thing, can it?