Last year, a 22-year-old mother from Michigan was heavily criticized when she posted pictures online of her son doing chores around the house. Single mom Nikkole Paulun has a 7-year-old son named Lyle and a 1.5-years-old daughter named Ellie.
Nikkole works hard to take care of her children while setting a good example for them and teaching them how to be productive members of society who know how to mow the lawn, wash their laundry, and cook a meal at home.
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In fact, studies have shown that setting chores for children to complete around the home can lead to them to becomes more independent in adulthood and successful in their careers. This is because they grow up taking responsibility for the work to be done around them which will help them as they take initiative and set goals later on in life.
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Despite these studies, many people commented on her viral post with judgement towards her decision to teach her son that housework is not just a woman’s job. One woman commented that you cannot just have children to “be your slave. Or to do the chores that you yourself don’t want to do.”
Though Nikkole shouldn’t have felt like it was necessary to respond to such a hateful comment, she immediately shut down that person by commenting that she actually enjoys doing most of the housework and that Lyle “just helps along the way & earns allowance as well.”
Once Ellie has grown enough to be able to help out around the house, Nikkole plans to have her also help out with chores. She responded to other commenters on her post that Ellie will learn not only how to do the dishes but also how to mow the lawn and other more stereotypically male chores as she grows.
For now, Lyle is helping his mother out around the house and learning all about how to be a good helper. Nikkole shared a picture in the comments of her post showing that Lyle also gets to enjoy some time to play video games after his chores.
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What do you think of Nikkole’s parenting?
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