Not self-esteem, self-usefulness

I love this phrase - "self-usefulness." You don't need to focus on self-esteem, goes the argument, if the child knows he is useful. How to instill self-usefulness? Work.

We've been spending the past four days with my parents and you can see the self-usefulness glow on my son's face. He's been truly working the Granddad, remodeling the front bedroom. He's helped install molding, puttied to texture the walls, sanded, painted primer and a first coat, and, for some reason I don't know, used a circular saw. He now has work clothes and is thrilled.

But how do I put him to work in our little rented condo? No work is quite as exciting as remodeling with Granddad, but raking the redwood needles is still quite important. I think he is old enough to vacuum the children's room, help with more dinner prep, and take a larger role in cleaning up after dinner.

Any other ideas? Suggestions heartily invited!