I have three children and I make them do housework. However, my mother-in-law (婆婆) doesn’t agree with me. She thinks I’m too harsh. In her opinion, parents shouldn’t be too strict with children. It is adults’ job to do housework.

I think our family is made up of five family numbers. No one in the family is more important than others, so each member should help with chores. I don’t ask my children to do the same chores, because their ages are different.

At the end of the day, after they finish playing with their toys, I ask them to put the toys away. If they don’t, they will have to say goodbye to their toys. I expect my children to set the table at night and help fold their own clothes. I don’t think I’m asking too much.

I know they are tired after a long day’s study at school, but that’s life—harsh but real. I don’t want to pay them for doing some chores. They live in the house, so they should help out with some things in the house. No one is going to pay them for cleaning up their rooms later in life and I’m not about to start doing it now.

Some parents protect their children too much from anything unpleasant (使人不愉快的) and make their children’s lives too comfortable and safe, but I’m not interested in that way. I hope my children are able to look after themselves and can be independent early.

When Justin Tong was a child, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him doing lots of housework such as taking out the rubbish and sending newspapers. But when he grew up, he was better than his childhood friends and lived a happier and healthier life.

This is the finding of a 40-year study than followed the lives of 456 children in London. It showed that the children who worked hard in childhood had a richer and a happier future. “Children who worked in the home in childhood got more abilities and came to feel they were important members of society.” said Daniel Brown, the psychologist (心理学家)who made the study. “And because they felt good about themselves, and others felt good about them.”

Brown’s study followed these children in great information. They made the study about the children at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Brown, the researchers compared (比较)the children’s mental-health scores with their childhood-activity scores. The children got more points for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

Working at any age is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and ability—the underpinnings (基础)of emotional (情感的) health. They also help him understand that people must work together and work toward common goals. The mast competent (合格的) adults are those who know how to do this.

Yet work isn’t everything. As Tolstoy once said, “One can live great in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one’s work.”

Tips for a Tidy Desk

Do you want to keep your desk clean and tidy? The following tips can help you.

Only keep things you really need on your desk.

Use a bag for any papers to read. Have a penholder for pens and pencils. Besides, you had better have a litter bin near your desk.

Don’t keep any drinks on your desk.

Go to the kitchen when you want to have a drink, or keep a drink on a small table near your desk.

Cut down the use of paper.

Try to keep as much information as possible on your computer. Before painting, you can ask yourself, “Do I really need to read this on paper?”

Get a noticeboard for you.

If you really need to keep small pieces of paper, use a noticeboard on the wall. You can check it every day and throw the old notes into the bin.

Clean your desk at the end of every day.

The more often you clean your desk, the easier it will be each time. Choose a time to tidy your desk! If you do it every day, it will only take a few minutes and you can start each new day with a clean and tidy desk.