I had intended to give him a full eight-hour work day, but when Aunty Tami invited the boys to spend the night I couldn't pass that up, and reduced it to six.
The Good News: Wyatt did work from 8am until 2:30 (with a half-hour lunch break), as far as I can tell without complaint. Well, that alone is huge, HUGE. He sanded, he cleaned up the muck from the gutters, swept part of the driveway, and worked on digging a trench for Kerry. And he was much more pleasant to be around.
The Less-Good News: While he did work the entire time, I wouldn't say he exactly worked hard the whole time. In fact, had we put Tate on the same jobs I would put good money on twice as much work having been done.
In fact, I let Tate and Gunnar play all morning. Tate and I did a 700-piece puzzle (which he chose because, well, he loves trains, and because it relates to our history reading about the meeting of the intercontinental rail road at Promontory Point,) and I only "helped" because I enjoy puzzles, not because he needed help.
But the whole thing got me thinking. Of the obvious.
The boys need more exercise and more work. There are times I wish we lived out in the county, where I had more meaningful work to give them. And more space to turn them loose. But we don't.
Still, there are plenty of projects around here I can get them onto.
I'm planning...
8 comments:
A friend observed (long time ago now) during one of their many moves... that the usually surly teen boys ~ young men ~ were OH SO helpful and cheerfully so when they were asked to work AS MEN amongst the other men. ...Just something I have tried to remember...
We have more outside work than you can imagine, but it's intimidating to me, let alone my kids ~ We are still in 'take dominion' and construction mode... and Dad is back to working full time (elsewhere).
Reminds me that SonOne has more weeds to kill today! SonTwo has been harvesting his garden.
That is an awesome train puzzle!!
Have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow.
Blessings,
Ava
Abi - thanks for the good wishes :D
Melanie - that's a VERY good point about having them to men's work... especially WITH other men.
(Wheels turning in my brain...)
Julie
I think if anyone besides the pharmaceutical companies conducted research, we'd discover that boys rarely have ADHD, but rather HPLD [Hard Physical Labor Deficit.]
(Cool puzzle!)
I remember reading somewhere (and I don't remember where, so take it as you will) that adolescence is almost an "invention" of modern society. That back in the day, "teens" worked alongside adults and had purpose to their lives.
I wonder if Habitat for Humanity needs any volunteers? :-)
I have the SAME dilemna. I am always trying to think of ways I can put the boys to some sort of productive work. That can be a difficult task when you live in the burbs. Wyatt weeds for a neighbor which is helpful. But, considering weed season only lasts about 5 minutes around here, it's not much work. Love the HPLD!!
My 16 yr old is always much more cheerful about scraping the house and chopping wood than he is about doing dishes. Boys are such fun, aren't they? Interesting critters
Just no rappelling from the roof tops, okay :o)! Hard work is a good thing. I need to get my kiddos to do some more too! Praying Kerry gets more work soon!
Blessings!
Deborah
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