Parents try to turn their children into responsible adults and introduce them to house chores from an early age. They develop strategies on how to subject their kids to house chores and make them more organised with their toys. Whether or not that turned them into mature adults is yet to be confirmed.
On this occasion, we decided to do a little in-house investigation and discover just how inventive our parents were when they introduced us to cleaning and house chores. In the hope that the parents described in the stories below are not reading this … let’s begin!
The Lego Land Mine
Nils, 26 grew up in France. Now lives in London with flatmates. Wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Legos are still on the carpet of his room.
“I used to love Legos, I still do, but when I was younger, I used to play with them non-stop. My parents had a hard time putting me to bed. My mum always made me clean up my Legos before bedtime, but I would always sneak out of bed to get my Legos out. By morning, I would have a Lego land mine all over my carpet. My parents would walk in to find more of a battlefield rather than a playground. The result: My parents would wake me out of my sleep and make me clean my room asap as I got out of bed. As if that wasn’t enough, my mother would then remember to include me in all house chores: washing up dishes (by myself after all meals, taking out the trash and even gardening! So my relationship with Legos is a bit twisted after all these years of suffering (laughs).”
The Non-so-Subtle Touch
Daniela, 27 grew up in Romania. Cleaning brings back too much nostalgia. Much to her mother’s surprise, she now has a cleaner with Helpling.
“When we were teens, my brother and I used to go out to our local discotheque every Friday evening. The disco was the meeting place for all teens. We used to dance all night and come home early Saturday morning and start eating anything that we could find. Of course, we left the kitchen a mess after that early-morning snack so when our Mum woke up she’d find the kitchen a mess. Our mother had a fixation for Saturday Morning cleaning. She had the precision of an army general and woke up at 7am sharp, regardless of what day of the week it was. She doesn’t do subtlety too well, so to get “revenge” and teach us a “lesson” she used to come in each of our rooms, start hoovering for 1 minute to wake us up. She would then leave the hoover on the floor waiting for us to continue the work. Whenever I hear a hoover in the morning I think of her. All of my hangover stories now contain a passage about cleaning early Saturday morning, with hazy eyes and heavy hands.”
The Flying Bookcase
Matt, 22 lives In London. Is the proud owner of the entire Harry Potter book collection.
“My mother taught me plenty about cleaning and whenever I would forget she’s had a strict strategy of getting my cleaning habits back on track. When I was a kid I had a great, big bookshelf up in my bedroom full of books and DVD’s. As punishment for whenever I was naughty, instead of grounding me, my mum would just tip the bookshelf slightly so all of my books would fall off and make ME pick all of them up and put them back. She did this so many times that my ten-year-old self is still mad at my mum for making me pick up all of my beloved Harry Potter books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD sets off of my bedroom floor.”
The Late Bloomer
Chad, 25 grew up in Scotland. Now lives in a posh flat with an en-suite bathroom.
“I grew up in a small council house to a single mum with six kids, so money was rather tight. Instead of being washed in a baby bath like most kids, I was popped into the kitchen sink filled with warm water and soap. We were a family who improvised and made the most of what we had. In addition to her improvisation, my mother was also a fan of old-school punishment. Growing up as a toddler, when I missed the direction of the potty when going to the bathroom, she would give me a wet wipe and tell me to wipe down the parts of the floor/potty where I had missed the target! She is going to absolutely cringe reading this! Needless to say, I was a fast learner!”
The Playful Parents
Lauren 24, grew up in London. Currently holds a grudge on toys.
“My parents were very inventive people when it came to house chores and cleaning duties for me and my brothers. They made sure to show us how to tidy up from an early age. I can definitely say that shaped me into a very organized adult. But there was one thing I remember my parents doing when I was little. I used to play with toys constantly. I reckon I was well-behaved whilst playing and remember just spending hours playing with my toys. When I got bored of playing, I would just leave everything on the floor: dolls, glitter, books etc. My parents would try to persuade me to clean the mess but to no avail. That’s when they started playing with my dolls. It was scary seeing two adults sit in my room and play and after a couple of occasions when my parents would just not leave, I decided it was time to start cleaning up.”
We know you’ve got stories of your own, so if this article brings up old memories don’t hesitate to share them in the comments section below!
