Shaping Future Upright Citizens :)

I've struggled ever since Natalie was born with the best way to teach children work ethic. Does a good work ethic come from being worked hard as a child? Should children help because they feel guilted into it, should they help because they are paid money, or should they just help because they are part of a family? What can I do to ensure that my children always try their best in everything they do, not for anyone else, but for the sheer pleasure of achieving a job well done? How do I keep them from hesitating and dilly-dallying in their late teens/early 20s or from being the "lazy one" in their college classes or work place? I feel work ethic is one thing that Rog and I have down pat, and it is a skill we've learned out of necessity from our life experiences.

Up until this year I have been very relunctant to make the kids do many chores. I want them to enjoy their childhood. I feel so bad for the oldest Duggar girls, so busy taking care of all of their parent's kids that they are exhausted even before starting their adult lives. We did not have Natalie and Anthony to be slaves for us. The thing is that Natalie is incredibly eager to help and Anthony is somewhat as well. I started small, having Natalie match socks or clean the bathroom countertops and Anthony help with dinner. Next they started taking turns feeding the dog. I realized it is really nice to have them responsible for a few things. First of all, they enjoy it and second of all, it's nice to have a little bit less to do. It frees up more time to spend with them.

I still will not let them go anywhere near a job like the toilet, but I have embraced some other ideas. For example, I believe that having them responsible for their own rooms is important to teach them pride, care, organization, and tidyness. It also makes it easier for me when I go to vacuum. I recently made them chore charts on posterboard with velcro and buttons for markers. So far they love them. Anthony has 8 chores and Natalie has 9. My favorite is the 5 minute Declutter Session after dinner in which they find everything on the first floor that goes in their rooms and then they take it up when they go to bed. Anthony says "Is it time to reclutter?" Ha! Not till tomorrow, bud.

We don't pay them an allowance. I have a feeling that if I even considered it Roger would declare that their award for helping is that they still get to live in our house! But seriously, their reward is enjoying a tidy house that they helped to clean and getting more time from Mom and Dad. I am trying to constantly remind them that they are part of a team and they play an important part in the health of the team. Hopefully in time they will learn the value of a job well done.