DJ's dad FTW!

DJ's dad totally wins at parenting. So sweet.

My mom had my sister and I learning laundry skills at an early age--first folding (starting with socks) when we were around 5 years old, then drying, then washing, then ironing by the time we were 12 or so. My brother learned a little later, but he did know how to do his own laundry by the time he went to college.

We also did all the household chores (both inside and out) between the three of us by the time I was ten. Mom started working a full-time job when I was 7 and my brother was 12, so we took on doing most of the chores around then, and then added more as I got older and could help out. We were also big proponents of casseroles for dinner--Mom would put them together in the morning and store it in the fridge, then call us after we got home from school and tell us to put it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes, and that she'd be home by the time it was done.

My SIL never had the niece and nephews doing any cleaning or laundry, so I wonder how they're going to handle living on their own at college.

Well, he also accidentally brought home a poison snake for me as a pet so...

Okay that nanny ad? I'm kind of boggling at the whole new level of detached parenting, although clearly it's been working for them. I love this line:

This job is very nontraditional in the sense that my kids are older and still need someone to "parent" them 24/7.

Yes, because usually that kind of responsibility falls to the parents.

I think they are hoping to hire Alice from The Brady Bunch.

I was about 12 when I started doing laundry. This was more to stop the " but I wanted to wear those jeans "or "that shirt". You want it, you wash it.

At 7 you might need an occasional supervision for things like teeth brushing -- just to make sure it is done right, but I hope you can put on your clothes

This job is very nontraditional in the sense that my kids are older and still need someone to "parent" them 24/7.

On the other hand, for once the quotation marks are honest rather than just being sloppy-assed punctuation.

My mom was stunned that I was able to transition seamlessly to cleaning and cooking for myself when I moved away from home. The thing was, I'd been handling most of my own meals for 5 years due to irregular college schedules, and while she did the laundry and cleaning it wasn't because I was unable or even unwilling but because her Monica Chandler-esque approach meant that everything was taken care of long before I would notice a chore in need of doing. When surrounded by people more slovenly than myself, it was no problem to find the motivation to clean up.

DJ -- that is very cool, except for the snake.

On Saturdays my entire family cleaned the house. We all had chores. I think it was a good idea -- because we got the idea that everyone was responsible for the state of the house. DH doesn't do a lot of regular chores ( he works 55- 65 hours,I work less than 20), but if we had kids it would be different. I was confused by a friend of mine recently - because her daughter doesn't do the dishes , because she isn't good at it. How is she going to get better?

Well, he also accidentally brought home a poison snake for me as a pet so...

It's the thought that counts?