Love this. I found it in Barbara Coloroso's fantastic book Kids are Worth It!
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Fritjof Capra, a renowned physicist and philosopher, explained in his book The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture the dilemma faced by adults in our culture as they try to impart to children the value of everyday, ordinary chores.

As far as the status of different kinds of work is concerned, there is an interesting hierarchy in our culture. Work with the lowest status tends to be that work which is most "entropic", i.e., where the tangible evidence of the effort is most easily destroyed. This is work that has to be done over and over again without leaving a lasting impact -- cooking meals which are immediately eaten, sweeping factory floors which will soon be dirty again, cutting hedges and lawns which keep growing.

In our society, as in all industrial cultures, jobs that involve highly entropic work -- housework, services, agriculture -- are given the lowest value and receive the lowest pay, although they are essential to our daily existence. These jobs are generally delegated to minorities and to women.

High-status jobs involve work that creates something lasting -- skyscrapers, supersonic planes, space rockets, nuclear warheads, and all of the other products of high technology. High status is also granted to all administrative work connected with high technology, however dull it may be.

This hierarchy of work is exactly the opposite in spiritual traditions. There, high-entropy work is highly valued and plays a significant role in the daily ritual of spiritual practice. Buddhist monks consider cooking, gardening, or housecleaning part of their meditative activities, and Christian monks and nuns have a long tradition of agriculture, nursing, and other services.

It seems that the high spiritual value accorded to entropic work in those traditions comes from a profound ecological awareness. Doing work that has to be done over and over again helps us recognize the nautral cycles of growth and decay, of birth and death, and thus become aware of the dynamic order of the universe. "Ordinary" work, as the root meaning of the term indicates, is work that is in harmony with the order we perceive in the natural environment.

Not only can ordinary chores help children recognize the natural cycles, they can help kids:

* Develop the ability to organize their own resources
* Experience closure on tasks
* Organize themselves
* Set goals and build skills necessary to work through more complex physical and mental tasks.

As well, chores are a great way to say to kids, "You are important members of our family; we need you, and we are counting on you to help out." Children need to believe that they can make a contribution, can make a difference in their families.
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Julian helps pick up his toys and put them in the basket. He also feeds the dog (with help and supervision), keeps his water dish filled, and generally helps me with whatever task *I'm* doing.

Sometimes this is a pain for me and slows me down, but he learns something each time. He wants to be part of the action, so I try to find some little aspect of my task that he can do, or at least mimic.

If I'm chopping vegetables, he has little Velcro fake veggies and fruits that he "cuts" with a wooden knife. He stands up on a stool at the counter next to me.

He also helps clean up any spills around the house with a cloth, and he empties his own potty in the toilet when he's done. I also will hand him a well-squeezed sponge and have him "clean" or "wipe" if I'm cleaning the kitchen. He loves it!

I treat it as an honor and a privilege for him. He is a helper, and has proven himself capable of handing a certain task, etc. It's not a punitive thing, but a privilege, whereby he takes part in the household activities. There's nothing that I *make* him do, I offer these little tasks to him like a special little treat. He's so proud of himself afterwards, and cheers "Hooray!" Adorable.

Yeah, I'm sure THAT won't last forever. LOL. The cheering that is, not the adorableness.