Taking the Time to Teach Kids to Work

This Thanksgiving my jobs were to make the rainbow jello, the homemade dinner rolls, and two chocolate pudding pies. My house was full of family, including cousins ranging from age 2 to 17. I was working in the kitchen most of the day, and my little cousins would zoom through and ask if I'd play with them. When I responded that I had to stay and help cook, they would ask if they could help me.

I knew that it would take a little longer to let them help me, but it only took me a second to tell them "sure." That gave me a unique opportunity to teach and to bond with these younger cousins. I really enjoyed it! They were so enthusiastic and so glad to be contributing. I was even able to impart a family special method of forming the bread dough into rolls to my 14 year old cousin, which she thought was way cool.

This made me think about the time that my mom spent teaching me skills. Anything that she let me help with took more time, but in the long run is worth it. Kids need adults who are patient and willing to let them help, learn, have the freedom to fail, and ultimately succeed in different tasks. Kids need to have the opportunity to work and learn skills that benefit the family. I think this makes kids feel good about themselves, as well as helps them appreciate all that it takes to keep a household running.

I'm grateful to my parents for making the effort to teach me how to cook, clean, do laundry, iron, paint, strip wallpaper, sand, nail, change the oil on a car, change a tire, assemble a computer, etc. And my parents didn't just teach these skills to my siblings and me, they also taught them to the neighbor kids! I'm glad to be a part of a family that works together. I think work is an important part of a happy home life. I want to teach these things to my children someday.