A little hard work never hurt anyone...much

Hard work has been on my mind lately. I'm not sure what brought it on, but it's been stuck in there floating around my brain for a while. I've been thinking about my kids and the kind of people that we are training them up to be. And I've been wondering if I'm doing the job right. Most of the time, I think we're doing a great job. I feel like we have very well behaved children, who respect adults and are caring and considerate of others (barring a few minor scuffles between themselves). They are sweet and loving, and most of all they have a desire to learn all they can. They are smart, sometimes too smart, but that's another post all together.

What concerns me is their desire to work. Yes, they are just kids, but lately I've felt like we are lacking in this area of teaching them the value of hard work. Sure, they have their everyday jobs like cleaning their rooms, taking out the garbage, unloading the dishwasher, keeping their toys picked up, and putting away their own laundry, but I guess I've never really given them the chance to work hard and find the joy in it. It's sad to say, but this is mostly because I always think it's easier to just do the tough jobs myself, rather than letting them learn how to do it, even if they're not 100% successful. I feel like now is the time to teach them this important value or they will never get it.

So last Saturday I decided to put my plan in motion. We woke up early and instead of turning on cartoons right away, they each had a few simple jobs to do, and after that they were given the task of vacuuming the van. Before I gave them this list of tasks, I was ready for the onslaught of whining and complaining that was sure to come my way, but guess what? It never did! To my surprise, they were actually thrilled with their list of jobs! A novel idea huh? It sounds so silly now, like I actually invented the idea!

Hannah and Josh took turns vacuuming out the van and their booster seats, and then Josh wiped down the inside surfaces with Armor All wipes. They were so proud of their work, and I was too! It's funny because over the summer I kept thinking that they were just bored and fighting because they didn't have enough to do. I was right, but my line of thinking was all wrong. I was going about it thinking that they didn't have enough activities to fill their time, but I think it was really because they didn't have enough work to do. Now I'm not saying in any way that our kids should be work horses and not get to just be kids. I think a work hard/play hard attitude is the way to go with my kids.

So what will they be doing this Saturday, you ask? Pullin weeds baby! Not too many, but I want them to know that they can expect a little hard work. I want them to have memories of working together as a family. And hopefully most of those memories will be good ones.