When Did Fun Become So Important?

The other day I read this blog post that I really liked. Find it here. It was all about how life needs to be less about making fun our ultimate goal and more about teaching kids how to enjoy work. I totally agree.

I remember back when one of my oldest children was in junior high and I was complaining to the school about the movies they were watching. These were not educational movies; they were popular culture type movies and I couldn't understand why the teacher was showing them instead of actually teaching them the curriculum. So I complained and the response was something like "kids need to have fun sometimes!" My thought was, "That's not why I send my children to school!" And I didn't think my children were being overworked at school, in the first place.

The challenge in my life is to convince my children that learning how to work is vitally important! They need to know I'm doing it for them, and not just to make their lives difficult. When they see their friends not having to do very much work, it can be a tough sell. I frequently do not feel like the most popular parent.

Here are some ways I am trying to help my children learn how to work:

music lessons and practicing
Saturday house cleaning and holding them accountable to do it well
lots of garden and yard work
earning money by mowing lawns for other people
cooking dinner once a week
everyone helping with dinner dishes
extra jobs in the summer
bicycling or walking to school or other places they need to go

It is a daily challenge to encourage my children not only to work to do the job well, but I'm committed.

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