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Friday, February 26, 2010

"REAL" work....

So I thought I would teach my kids the meaning of "real" work.  You know the kind I did as a kid.  The kind I am thankful my dad taught me as a kid....AS MUCH AS I HATED IT THEN...we knew how to work.  Really work.  We would get up and have to rake our entire yard...(dad...I still don't understand this, why didn't we just mow the leaves again??) and we also had a dog, an apricot and apple tree that we had to clean up after...which wouldn't have been so bad except for all the squirrels...they would take ONE bite and then chuck it on the ground...and try another...and another...and another...as IF the next would taste better or something...!!  I remember it would make my dad SO MAD!!  But seriously...it made us mad too when we had to pick up these NASTY rotting fruit from the ground....so gross...especially as a kid...

RIGHT....kids....that's what we were talking about...MY kids...teaching them work...!!

Well, we have a pretty huge yard, and we have a couple PRETTY huge trees that hang over into our yard...which in the summer we are thankful for.  These trees however in the fall drop these big brown seed pods ALL OVER THE YARD.   Last year Brian decided to just mow them up....BAD IDEA.  He was allergic to them, and had some serious eye and nasal problems for WEEKS.  Sooo....this year...we have basically neglected them hoping that the backyard fairy would magically come clean it all up...oh ya...and all the dog poop too...!!  HE NEVER CAME.  ( I say he...cause I think a girl fairy woulda come...girls have much more intuition you know...)

Well, I got all "motivated" one day and decided to get the kids all pepped up and let them clean it up.  Even if it took them hours....I remember being out in the yard working from morning till it got dark....they could handle it right??  Well, I did give them incentive.  I told them they could earn a dollar per black trash bag that was filled.  They were ready to go...mom doesn't offer money...well...hardly ever...!  I was going to just let them pick it up one by one...but then I got raking...and raking...and raked several piles for them to work on. 

 I even picked up a trashcan full of poop.  While I was out there, they were VERY productive.  Once my back hurt so much I could cry, I told them that I had to go in, but that they needed to keep working and hurry to get it done to surprise daddy when he got home. 



Their work habits are not so good I'm afraid.  Oakley was the best....filling twice the bags that Carter did.  Parker was just plain useless...he did fill one bag, and then came in for a nap...(there were consequences for not working too).   I had to keep going out there and hassling them because they would be jumping on the trampoline...or playing on the swing set...they just couldn't focus. 

Eventually, Brian came home...and he basically saw numerous piles of pods all over the yard.  I was so BUMBED.  I had such high hopes that the kids would just work, and get it done.   Luckily Brian was just impressed that ANYONE went out there in the first place to work on the yard....and he decided to go out and help them finish.  Luckily he didn't have a problem cause they weren't being ground into the air for him to breathe...and the kids DID help him.

SO, the moral of the story is:  If you want your kids to work...you have to make it a family affair...at least at my kids ages.  Or maybe you just have to invest in shock collars with remotes so every time they stop you can zing em'...

5 comments :

Laura said...

yea, I'm still waiting for the kid shock collars to come out....

But we have plenty of opportunities for word around here. If you think a dog puts out a lot of present, imagine what three miniature horses can pile into a stall. Wait, you're pregnant, stop imagining right now.

Go Oakley! Way to kick Carter's bum!

Joleen said...

Let me know if you invent those collars....

Melissa said...

I can think of so many uses for those collars...

I'm impressed they did as much as they did! My kids still require a lot of supervision if i want the job done in a timely manner and done "my" way. :)

Grand Pooba said...

They're gettin there! Pretty impressive!

(Um, can I take your dog home?)

Rose said...

I'm impressed they did that much being so young! In my house, Chloee is the only kid who knows how to work...we're trying to teach Anna...