When you were young what did your parents expect you to do? Did you have to have all your toys picked up before going to bed? Did you have to help with the laundry, like gathering up your dirty clothes and folding and putting away your clean clothes? Did you have to sweep and mop floors or run a vacuum over the carpets? Did you have to wash dishes? Did you help cook meals? Did you have to bring in wood or coal to heat the house? If you grew up on a farm, did you help take care of the animals like milking the cow or gathering eggs?
Chores have changed over time. Today's chores might be picking up your toys, loading the dishwasher, feeding the dog or cat, vacuuming the floors, and helping cook some meals.
The chores our grandparents did may have been hanging out clothes to dry, beating a rug, picking fruit from a tree, harvesting vegetables from the garden and building a fire to heat the house.
Growing up Saturdays were big days with a lot of chores to do at home. After getting up I was asked to take the dirty sheets off from my bed so they could be washed. Then I was to gather all my dirty clothes. After the clothes were washed, I was expected to hang them on the clothesline outside. We had no carpets in our house, so we swept and mopped every floor in the house. We cleaned the bathrooms. We dusted and polished all the wood furniture. At night while watching TV we folded clothes and ironed the wrinkled clothes. Other chores were feeding the animals; gathering eggs; cleaning, grading, and casing eggs; delivering eggs; and filling the furnace hopper with coal to heat the house.
Sometimes the everyday chores don't seem that significant, but they are very much a part of our lives. Writing about the chores we had to do can add a lot to our stories. Write about the common everyday things you did growing up. The things you did may not be so common anymore.
