I have been reading Farmer Boy (newly listed in Our Favorite Books column) aloud to the kids lately, and whenever I read books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I must always work to resist the urge to moralize to my unsuspecting children. It is impossible not to be inspired by the numerous examples of a good, wholesome work ethic, completely unpolluted by the devious pull of glowing screens, and I am often tempted, while reading, to say things like, "Chore time again! They did it EVERY DAY at the SAME TIME and weren't allowed to say ONE WORD about it." and, "Isn't it great how the WHOLE FAMILY all contributed to the running of the farm, WITHOUT COMPLAINING, even when they didn't always like it?" Also hard to control is the knee-jerk reaction that might prompt me to wake the kids up at dawn, double their (ridiculously light) chore load, and instate a no-talking-at-the-table rule.
Well, I do resist (mostly, except for just a little moralizing here and there!), but I do think it would only be for their good if I gradually and quietly increased their responsibilities and worked to instill a better sense of cooperation and contribution toward the good of the family. And it can't at all be a bad thing to restrict freedom to say things like, "But I didn't get it out!", or, my personal favorite, "Why do I always have to do everything?"
Next up, Swiss Family Robinson! My kids will start running when they see me coming at them with a chapter book. :-)
2 comments:
Next time someone comes at you with "Why do I have to do everything?" or something of the like, ask if they'd like to trade chores with you. That seems to curb the complaining around here, at least temporarily. :)
I feel the SAME WAY when we read the Wilder books. I often wonder how much of it was actually based on reality and how much her rosy memory. Who knows? It's tempting indeed to try to shoehorn our modern situation into their much different one, and wonder why our kids can't be happy with an apple and a whole penny in their stocking, for example. All I can say is, that kind of thinking only makes me (and therefore my family) discontented and whiny, which defeats the whole point!
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