I went to a conference at BYU last week. One of the classes I attended was on teaching your children to work. They told us that it is perhaps the greatest remedy for selfishness - a plague of our day.
I came away with a greater resolve to let Logan work with me, even though it takes twice as long to get a task accomplished. He is only fourteen months old, but he is already eager to participate in whatever I'm doing. My mom has always reminded me that children learn to feel capable and be helpful when they are two, three, and four-year olds, not twelve, thirteen, and fourteen-year olds. When I was a little girl she let me sweep the floor, do the dishes, dust, and vacuum with her, instead of shooing me away so she could work quickly. She cultivated a great love of work in me. I so appreciate her patience. Learning to work hard and be self-reliant is perhaps one of the greatest lessons I learned from her.
Goals I have to help Logan learn to be a good worker:
1. Let him help me do laundry. He loves putting the wet clothes in the dryer, and pushing the button to start the load.
2. Whenever possible, let him help me pick up toys and books instead of doing it myself.
3. Take pictures of him working in addition to the pictures I take of him playing. The picture above is of Logan cleaning up under his high chair.
4. Let him stay with me when I'm working on a project, even if he is "in my way".
5. Let him see me (and help me) help others.
1 comment:
What a good reminder! It's so easy to do it by myself I forget that sometimes!
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