things we do which seem like homework

Lately I noticed there are a few things we do as adults which, if you rewound the clock to about age 14, basically seem like a chore or homework. But today we do them voluntarily, and for little or no reward!

For instance.

• In 3rd grade, we called it Spelling Lessons. Today, it's Words with Friends. 

99 points! HELL YEAH! Wait, that's a word?

• In high school, we called it Expository Writing assignments. Today many of us choose to write a lot (like, you know, in a blog or three). 

• We love a good crossword puzzle, especially the easy one in the Monday edition of USA Today. Twenty years ago, this was a homeroom worksheet given us by a teacher who needed the period off.

• Even I groaned at English class reading assignments, and I was both an ass-kisser and a book worm. Today, like many of my friends and all of my family, I have more books than can fit on several large shelves and in under-bed boxes. 

Exhibit A

• Vacuuming today is less of a chore, though in my defense Dysons weren't around when I was a kid. 

• Cook things from scratch appeals to many of us, judging by all the Facebook uploads of awesome home-made dinners. When we were little, we called this KP (kitchen patrol) and it was often seen as a burden which kept us from our play time.

Huh.