Family Work

A family that works together.....stays together! Families who work together learn how to serve and how to think about others needs not just their own. It helps us be more like Christ when we are less selfish and giving to others.

 How do we go about teaching our family members to work together efficiently and kindly? We need to focus on the end purpose of the task at hand. It is to have a spotless house and all the chores done without complaints or is it to be teaching our children to work together and love and want to serve each other. We need to make sure we are spending time working along side our children. I am often tempted to just to a task myself because it is quicker and easier not to hear the moans and groans BUT I am missing out on some quality time I could be having with one of my children ... a teaching moment I am letting pass by. Some things I think that would help your children be more willing to help is when you start working together at a young age. Here is a link that lists chores for children as well as what ages are appropriate for each chore...CHORES/KIDS
Children need to know that they are an important part of the family unit and they need to pitch in.

I have tried several different things to encourage my family and children to help me with the household chores. I have tried stickers, marbles in a jar, points system, drawing chores out of a hat... you name it. I have tried it but the one thing I have found to work the best is when we all work together. When we put on music and set a timer (This way they know the cleaning will eventually end) and all work on an area together. I will try and focus on a different child and teach them with a little more instruction in how I would like the job to be done. I am also grateful for a husband who works hard and is still willing to help fold laundry or vacuum if needed. I love that this is teaching my boys how dads act and my girls want to expect in their husband too.

Family Work can be a blessing. When my dad was growing up, his brothers and my grandfather would go lay brick everyday. It was hard work and they all did it together to make ends meet. It made them very close as siblings because they worked so closely and LONG together while they were growing up. It also taught them how to know how to work very hard.

When I was growing up in Washington State, my dad started a lawn mowing business with my three older brothers. He did this for two reasons. One, to earn money for the boys missions and TWO, to teach them to be hard workers. They continued mowing lawns while my oldest brother left on his mission to Japan. My two other brother worked and helped pay to keep him out on his mission. When my next brother left, my youngest brother was left to mow all by himself, he was 16 and determined.. so he enlisted me and my older sister to help him. We were only 14, and 12 and we weren't as strong or fast as my other brothers but we worked hard and continued mowing lawns for our brother when he left to go on his mission. This was one of the hardest experiences of my childhood. We had to mow lawns after school every day until it was dark. We had to mow lawns all day Saturday's. It was a full time commitment but it was also the greatest blessing to our family. All of us grew up very close and to be hard workers.