September 2, 2010

Cooperation

Written by: Georgianna Starr, Math Teacher, Begich Middle School

When I visited my grandma, there was always a lot of housework. Someone had to cook for the adults and usually cook something different for the kids, wash, dry, and put dishes away, sweep and mop the floor, take out the trash, wash and hang the clothes outside, get the clothes to fold and put away, make the beds, and generally put things away. We were told as kids either clean up or go out. When we reached a certain age, we had to clean. With so many kids and adults there, it had to get done. I don’t really remember how things got delegated, but everyone helped out. I never thought of it as being work though. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe I was having too much fun.

My mother comes from a large extended family. As a child, I knew my mom was from Scammon Bay, had a lot of sisters, and is the eldest daughter out of 10 children. I never thought of my mother being a mother figure or an authority figure to her sisters as she was growing up.

As the eldest, she delegated weekly chores to her sisters and was very strict in her standards. My aunt told me this story about what happened if you didn’t do your chores properly. It was one of the sister’s turn to make the beds (knowing that my mom checked the work.) This time, the bed making didn’t pass. My aunt said that my mom pulled off ALL the covers off the beds and made the sister redo them. I always smile when I think about this.

I don’t hear a lot of stories about my mother, but this one sticks in my head because my mom’s house always bugs me when I visit. I end up vacuuming, sweeping, mopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, and dusting. “Why don’t you dust?” is my line. My mom’s response, “I don’t like to dust.” My usual reply, “Gee Whiz, no one LIKES to dust.” I can’t imagine my mother being the CLEAN boss back in the day. I texted my mom to see what she thought about this story. She texted me back and said that “it needed to be done right.” Then she asked, “when did I see Theresa?” Which made me smile harder because my mom is the oldest and Theresa is the next oldest, so it was Theresa who had to remake the beds.

This is my story of cooperation. Large families need to cooperate in lots of different ways. Being part of a family doesn’t always mean blood relative. Think of your classroom and your school as family. Sometimes you spend more time with them anyway, so you might as well enjoy it!