You want me to do what? Work? Blahhh!

Recently, in one of my marriage and family relation classes, I was asked to talk about my thoughts and ideas on the values of working together as a family. Can it be rewarding?

If this same question had been asked to me when I was a kid or even an older teen, I probably would have said, “No way, Yuk, or Do I have to?" I hated work – it was the worst thing ever (though I didn’t mind earning money when it was offered). My father was, or better said, is a workaholic. He desired his children to be the same. In my mind, all we ever did was work. It never seemed fun, and it was even harder to do when I could see all my neighbor friends running around and playing.  I guess one could say that I had an immature attitude about it. Nonetheless, now that I am grown, I am so grateful that my Parents taught me how to work.

Now that I am a parent, I understand and see the value of hard work. However, my husband and I decided to teach our daughters a little differently. Since they were very little, I tried to turn chores into a game. I would sing songs with them, make it a contest, or sometimes even a reward was offered at the end of the job. As they got older, I would play their favorite music (or mine, 80s top hits) full blast, and we would ‘rock out’ as we were cleaning up around the house or outside. We have found that as we work together as a family, it is so much more fun. We talk more, laugh more, and my husband and I have had many opportunities to teach during those times. Now, I am not saying that my kids LOVE working, but I think they understand that it is necessary part of growing up and being in a family. In the long run, it has paid off. My oldest works part-time at an elementary school doing janitorial duties and the younger one has been going around trying to find jobs by mowing neighbor’s yards.  My hope is, by working hard, it will become a part of who they are when they grow up and hope they will continue to teach those values to their children. 

Keeping up with the daily chores, especially where kids are involved can be tedious and exhausting. Kids tend to fight and quarrel more; they don’t always do the job correctly, or they don’t do it at all. However, I really think as parents we need to never give up. We have a responsibility to rear our children to be dependable people in our societies and to take pride in a job well done. I really believe that when possible, laboring together as a family and teaching our children to work is an opportunity that is essential to becoming more like our Heavenly Father. Look around at the creation of this world; it becomes quite obvious to me that He is a hard worker. And yes, in the end, it will be rewarding! 

I couldn't help myself - The video below is a hilarious segment from "Kid Snippets" Its about a mom trying to get her kid to do his chores - This is all too familiar: