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Raising a Hard Working Family
By
Shiloah Baker
How many times have we met or know of people who are slovenly,
lazy, or who do not work hard?
For these people it shows in their homes as well as in
the lives they lead.
My father has always been a hard working man.
He was raised on a 2,000 acre ranch which always had hard
work in the natural elements, and everyone had responsibilities
that could not be shirked.
He has a strong work ethic that he instilled in each of
his four daughters. We
worked hard growing up and it is safe to say that as adult
women, mothers, and homemakers we work hard today.
Theodore Roosevelt in his powerful and motivating speech “The
Strenuous Life” wrote the following:
“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the
doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of
labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which
comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the
man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from
bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate
triumph. A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which
springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive
after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an
individual.”
What is your opinion of someone who is always striving to escape
from work? It can
be infuriating to someone who works hard with an honest effort.
The natural man has a tendency to be lazy.
Our main goal here on earth is to overcome the natural
“man”.
“A mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life,
and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who
follow it for serious work in the world.”
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There is nothing that feels better than working hard on a job such as cleaning
and organizing the home, cooking meals, and doing the dishes.
At the end of the day your muscles have been worked, your hands have
served, your family is healthy, and you can see the visual results of your labor
in the home. You can sit back and
feel satisfied that all is well. It
feels good to work hard and rest knowing that it is deserved.
“A man can be freed from the necessity of work only by the fact that he or his
fathers before him have worked to good purpose.”
Teaching our children this principle will make them great men and women, ready
to face the adult life of toil and stress.
They will be self motivators by the time they are adults when children
are taught a good work ethic.
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All children should work, and work with full effort.
When it is play time, they will enjoy it!
Children who are bored have not worked hard enough.
Children who are selfish have not worked hard enough to enjoy the
belongings that are given to them.
They do not spend enough time cleaning up or caring for their belongings.
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“…a healthy state can exist only when the men and women who
make it up lead clean, vigorous, healthy lives; when the children are so trained
that they shall endeavor, not to shirk difficulties, but to overcome them; not
to seek ease, but to know how to wrest triumph from toil and risk. The man must
be glad to do a man's work, to dare and endure and to labor; to keep himself,
and to keep those dependent upon him. The woman must be the housewife, the
helpmeet of the homemaker, the wise and fearless mother of many healthy
children.”
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Several of my children have Sensory Integration Disorder.
One of the therapies they were given was to make sure that they move
around a lot and carry heavy things to put pressure on their joints.
Things such as taking out the trash, carrying laundry hampers to a room
to fold laundry, sweeping, and mopping are suggested means of “therapy”.
One’s physical health depends on work – including the children’s!
Some parents shy away from giving children more than a few responsibilities each
day for several reasons:
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1)
Giving up full control to a child to do the responsibility is
scary, difficult, and can be messy.
Things such as learning to cook, doing laundry, mopping a
floor will not always be done perfect or neatly, but as time and
practice is allowed the child will progress and become good at
it. If the child
makes a mess when learning a new skill, make him or her clean it
up. If the child is
learning to cook and it turns out terrible, eat it with a smile
and lots of tolerance and patience.
I can’t tell you how many burned, over salted, watery
meals or flat cornbread I’ve choked down over the past year, but
I’ve done it with a smile.
Simply remind them to learn from their mistakes and try
again!
2)
It takes too long to let the child do it.
In less than half of the time it takes for the child to
clean up a spill, go back and wipe it again because it is
sticky, you could have done it better.
That is exactly it.
You’ve had the practice.
You are now the teacher.
Allow your child to perfect his skills in the home with a
loving, tender teacher overlooking.
This is better in comparison to someone in the outside
world trying to teach an adult these skills with little
patience.
3)
The thought, “Children should play not work”; this is the
mindset of many today.
I do not agree.
I worked hard in my youth and was prepared for my life as
an adult. Now is
the time to teach your future adult.
We have but a short time to do so.
Your child will always be grateful to you for it.
Working hard ourselves and teaching your family to work and then
play is the way to a cleaner, healthier, and happier life.
We will have more free time.
We will feel confident.
We will not be ashamed of our homes.
Most importantly, we will be proud of our family and
their contribution to their future homes and to the world.
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