When the Magic Happens
I think being in the kitchen with my kids and peeling potatoes or doing once a month cooking or just cooking dinner is one of my favorite times. I think that’s when the magic happens. Just doing everyday necessary things.
Praying for a New Baby
I remember having a conversation with 2 little boys who were praying for a new baby. I’m so glad they loved babies enough to ask God for one. On this occasion I reminded them that a new baby would mean more work for us all. And that is very true. At the time they eagerly agreed.
Sharing Life is When the Magic Happens
Working together with my kids was a joy and a necessity. When you have a large family there is more work than one mom or dad can do alone. That’s when the magic happens. Sharing the daily work was a way to share life with my kids, and a way for my kids to share their little hearts with me. It was a training ground and a joy. I wish I had treasured that time even more.
Quality Time
There is a lot of talk about quality time. It’s hard to plan for time to be quality. Sometimes that wonderful treasured talk happens right in the middle of the mundane normal moments of the day.
I spent a lot of time with my kids! Being able to stay at home with my kids is one of my life’s biggest blessings. I wish I could say that I was always as focused as I should have been.
My Childhood
How to work is one of the best things I learned from my parents. Work is a big part of what makes up life. We should learn to do it and enjoy it.
Growing up we all worked around the house and/or in the garden. I grew up cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, hoeing the garden, and helping with whatever was needed.
My parents both worked full time. How they did all the things they did I will never know. We had huge gardens, chickens, pigs, rabbits, cats and a dog. Sometimes we slaughtered our own pork and the relatives would come to help. My mom canned a lot of food every summer. She made our clothes, quilts, crocheted, and so much more! She still had time to help others too! And she took us to church 3 times a week. So I grew up with a good example of how to teach children to work.
Teaching Children to Work
When I grew up and married my husband we didn’t have the gardens of my childhood. But my kids did grow up helping from a very early age. Usually, before they were really able to be a true help they were eagerly asking to participate in the daily workload. This was a joy having my little ones around me and under my feet. I happen to love the chaos and I remember it with smiles.
Child Sized Tools and Jobs
Sometimes, we purchased child size tools so the kids could really help. I remember purchasing a cute little wooden handled straw broom and dustpan for a little three year old boy. My mom also gave one of the boys a small weed eater because he wanted to do yard work. Our littles first chore was folding washcloths and of course picking up their toys.
On my first trip to Malawi https://redaredding.com/my-journey-to-malawi/ I saw how every member contributes. Little toddlers would mimic their siblings placing sticks on their heads.. Maybe only two sticks but they helped. Even young children could pick stones out of the garden spot, help fertilize the fields or carry babies on their backs.. Everyone contributes.
Gaining Confidence and a Place to Belong
Not only is it useful to train your kids to help but it is also self esteem building. I think there are so many positive things about raising children who help out in the family. Children gain a confidence that is hard to come by in other settings. A connection, a place they belong, and a knowledge that they are a part of a unit, the family. Learning to work with others is a very valuable skill. They also feel good when they can cook a dinner, learn to bake bread, sweep and mop the floor, comparison shop and so much more. Plus the reward of a job well done is a reward of its own.
Do You Have a Couple of Kids I Can Hire?
Children who grow up working and helping out in the family are the best workers employers can hire. People would stop by my house and ask if they could hire my children to do various jobs. I even had a grocery store owner and a dry cleaner ask me to please let one of my sons work for him.
That’s When the Magic Happens!
I believe kids who grow up working are learning valuable skills and are happier people. The magic happens side by side.