Mid-summer report card

A big part of this mashup life is parenting, and I had some definite ideas about my kids' personal growth over the summer. I put a few practices in place and here's how they're going so far.

Chore of the day: Each child now expects and accepts a chore of the day with minimal complaining. The house gets cleaned and they learn how to clean toilets--a useful life skill! Grade: A-

Meal of the week: I managed to have a child cook a meal once a week for the first two weeks. Then it fell apart. Still, if push came to shove, my son could survive on the one dish he made--spaghetti--and my daughter on the salmon with maple butter she made. Grade: C-.

Access to what makes them thrive, e.g., friends, favorite activities, tutoring: I think I've done a pretty good job of this, on average. I wonder if my kids would have a different answer, though. Grade: B.

Opportunities for increased responsibility/accountability: Happily, this came about naturally through things like kid- and pet-sitting jobs. Grade: A- but mostly because of our community of friends and not because of any effort on my part, other than the emotional effort of letting go and letting them learn life's lessons in whatever way they need to. So far, so good.