• It was really hard to teach my little kids to do chores like cooking or cleaning up.
• But I'm glad they learned young because now that they're teens, they can take care of themselves.
• Now, I also have more freedom, and so do they.

My husband and I went out to dinner last weekend, and as I was getting ready I realized I made no plans for my teens to eat. As we were headed out the door, I yelled, "We're leaving! Find something in the fridge to make for dinner!"

And they did.

It's a huge jump from when I had four little kids running around the house, and it felt like I didn't sit down once during the day. There was constant laundry to be washed and folded, meals to be made, and messes to be cleaned up. My husband and I were the ones doing all those things all the time for six people.

Similarly, last month, the family went on a ski trip together here in Colorado. Everyone got sick of hearing me say, "This is so easy now!" But it was. In past years, my husband and I had to pack food, normal clothes, winter clothes, and other gear for all of us to head to the mountains. We were tired before we even hit the road.

This year, I told the family we were leaving at 2 p.m., and everyone was just … ready, packed, and in the car. No one even forgot a jacket.

It took years to teach them everything, but now my teens can take care of themselves.

It can be hard to teach little kids how to cook and clean

Of course, we didn't wake up one day with the kids knowing how to do all these things. It's been years of practicing, starting with small tasks and expecting them to do more over time.

That teaching doesn't always come easily or naturally, either. It's hard to make time to teach kids to do things. Cooking takes longer. The bathroom doesn't get as clean at first. Clothes aren't folded very neatly.

I think a lot of kids who grow up not knowing how to cook or do laundry aren't coddled by parents who insist on doing everything for their precious babies. We're all just so busy. When you get home from work and sports and after-school care at 6 p.m., everyone wants to eat dinner. You can't spend an extra half an hour teaching hangry kids how to chop a cucumber. If the bathroom has reached toxic levels, it's faster to clean it myself, and I know it will be done the way I want it.

I didn't enjoy having to show younger children how to do everything, especially when I knew I'd be faster. And, of course, sometimes the kids just didn't want to do these things.

But learning these skills gave my kids confidence — and gave me confidence that they'd be able to take care of themselves in the future.

All of the tasks I taught them were something the kids had to practice and improve on. Each time they packed their bags for a trip, they got better at it.

All that effort paid off, and I now have less to do

Over winter break a few years ago, I told my middle schooler he had to make dinner. I took him to the grocery store and let him loose to get his ingredients while I sat in the café and read a book. When we got home, he made a delicious dinner. I think I cried.

My other son has made some awesome breakfasts for us while we were camping — much more elaborate than I would have cooked. I don't double-check anyone's packing for trips anymore. On Thanksgiving, every person in the family makes a dish, so no one has to do all the cooking. When my oldest went to college, he taught a few friends how to do their laundry at the beginning of the school year.

Teaching the kids to do things for themselves has not only given my husband and me more freedom, but it has also given the kids freedom.

If they want a certain shirt clean, they don't have to wait for me. If they don't like what's for dinner, they can make their own.

I'm not going to pretend that we don't all still squabble over chores. Just because my family can do these tasks doesn't mean everyone in this house does them when I want. But I feel pretty confident that as they venture out into the world in the next few years, they'll be able to fend for themselves.

I just hope they come back to visit and cook for me sometimes.

All week the crypto world was abuzz about who was and who wasn't going to be at the first Digital Asset Summit at the White House on Friday.

• Crypto and AI czar David Sacks and President Trump dropped their biggest announcement the night before, unveiling the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by executive order, positioning bitcoin alongside classic reserves like gold.

Why it matters: Trump has vowed to be America's "first crypto president" and pledged to make the U.S. the "crypto capital."

• The executive order acknowledges bitcoin's "fixed supply" and maintains "there is a strategic advantage to being among the first nations to create a strategic bitcoin reserve."

By the numbers: Bitcoin began the week midway between $80,000 and $90,000, and for all the drama, that's where it ended too.

Zoom in: A still-unknown number of leaders in the crypto industry spent half the day at the White House Friday, followed by a reception hosted by Coinbase, the leading U.S. crypto exchange.

• During the public portion of the summit, the main thing attendees did was thank the president.

What they're saying: "The U.S. won the internet, and the U.S. should win crypto. So thank you for your leadership on this," Tyler Winklevoss, a co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, said at the summit.

• The president told his guests at the end of the meeting: "This is a very important day in your lives. I know you worked some of you very long, long before people really understood what was happening. And so I congratulate you.
• "Being in the White House is a big deal."

The bottom line: As the summit ended, the administration took a material step to roll back what's been referred to as Operation Chokepoint 2.0, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ending the requirement that its banks seek permission to engage in common crypto activities.

• China announced on Saturday that it will impose additional tariffs on Canada from March 20.
• The tariffs will hit Canadian agricultural and food products, China's Ministry of Finance said.
• Beijing cited "discriminatory" Canadian levies on Chinese EVs as part of the reason behind the decision.

China has announced that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on certain Canadian agricultural and food products from March 20, deepening concerns over a brewing global trade war.

In a statement on Saturday, China's Ministry of Finance said a 100% tariff would be imposed on rapeseed oil, rapeseed meal, and pea imports from Canada, as well as a 25% tariff on some seafood products and pork.

The ministry said the decision was made in response to Canada's "discriminatory" 100% levy on Chinese electric vehicles and 25% tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, which came into force last year.

America's neighbor to the north is a major global producer of rapeseed, also known as canola, and China is its second-largest market, according to the Canola Council Of Canada. Canadian exports of canola seed, oil, and meal to China were valued at C$5 billion (around $3.5 billion) in 2023, per the Canola Council.

Beijing's announcement means Canada is now facing a trade battle on two fronts as pressure on its economy continues to grow.

Josh Lipsky, the senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center, told Business Insider that the timing of China's tariffs announcement was particularly noteworthy. The move came just a day before Canada's governing Liberal Party is set to announce a new leader after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in January that he would resign.

"China's needed to get the retaliation done," Lipsky said.

"I think it's China trying to reset with Canada ahead of what's going to be a much broader trade conflict with the US," he continued, adding that Beijing likely wanted to "clear the decks" before a new Canadian leader was in place.

The announcement may also have been designed to serve as a warning to Canada not to align itself too closely with the US on trade policy.

The New York Times reported that China Central Television had released a commentary that called the tariffs "a powerful countermeasure to Canada's wrong choice, and a strong warning to some countries that intend to impose additional tariffs on China in exchange for the United States not to impose additional tariffs on them."

Paul Smetanin, president of the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, told BI that China's move was not surprising but that it underscored the "delicate environment in which Canada must manage its global economic interests."

"Moving forward, the government's priority must be to develop a nimble trade strategy capable of mitigating the risks posed by an increasingly unpredictable international marketplace," he said.

The news will nevertheless add to increasing uncertainty across North America over President Donald Trump's tariff threats.

The Trump administration this week announced a monthlong delay to some 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico amid mounting fears over the economic implications of a wider trade war. It also increased a 10% tariff on all imports from China to 20%, sparking swift retaliation from Beijing.