"This Is Not Maid Training"
Kim from Large Family Logistics has some wise words in response to someone who accused her of encouraging mothers to be lazy and use their children as maids. It is a good read and well worth your time.
I wish more families understood and embraced the concept of teaching your children responsibility. I certainly know that I benefitted a great deal from my parents willingness to instill in me the value of hard work, diligence, and servanthood.
Kim says:
I wish more families understood and embraced the concept of teaching your children responsibility. I certainly know that I benefitted a great deal from my parents willingness to instill in me the value of hard work, diligence, and servanthood.
Kim says:
Many hands make light work. When we work quickly and cheerfully together as a family, then we have time for a trip to the park or a game of ball in the backyard. These children will speed through a chore so that they can read the next chapter in their book because they have time. They are not the children of culture being addicted to all the toys of the current generation. These children are also not tied to the time constraints of the public/private school system. They do not get on the bus at 7:20, come home at 4:10 and then have homework and chores. They have schoolwork to do alone and together as a family and it takes a fraction of the time they would have spent in a public/private school setting. They have time to think and ponder things. They spend their free time building, creating, starting businesses, writing for the fun of it, and searching out answers for the things they wonder about. Their curiousity and love of learning is not squelched because they are taught that education is important, to use their school and chore time wisely, and to use their free time to explore their interests. They are learning to love and glorify God in everything they do because their mothers are teaching them these things all the day long in all of the little things of life.Her concluding paragraph was excellent:
Children's work is more than schoolwork and the daily routine of chores. It is a matter of teaching the the principles of servanthood, responsibility, and love for family. You don't want to raise another generation of helpless adults, trained for academia but ignorant of the nuances of household responsibility. This is not maid training, this is life training.
posted by Crystal Paine at 9:46 PM
9 Comments:
Amen to that!!! :-)
Oh, what a great article! Thanks for sharing :).
That is so true. I have helped my mom teaching younger children in school, and she get people telling her that she had me to just do her work. But what greater training then helping with young children.
Marissa
I've often wondered what my life would have been like it I had been home-schooled.
I spent a lot of my time in elementary school wondering about what we were being taught, instead of truly learning. There would be time that something would catch my attention and imagination but *whoosh* we'd be onto the next subject. I feel like I never really got to delve into anything.
I graduated from a liberal arts college; I believe I learned a lot there, but that came with the freedom of being able to focus on what I was interested. I especially enjoyed my art, writing, & sociology classes.
However, I think the most prolific learning I've experienced has been in my adult life: simply by frequenting the library and using online searches. I wish my childhood could have been a little more free like that.
One final thing: I really enjoyed school. I am extremely social and always liked being in a group; but I believe that became my focus instead of learning, reading, writing, or creating. I have always felt the romantic allure of learning, but I don't feel like I was able to explore it as much as I would have liked to. I am now (thankfully).
Interesting.
Thanks, Womanhood.
Great response to a terrible accusation. Thanks for posting this, Crystal! As always, you find the best articles that always hit the nail on the head...
Excellent post! I have 6 children. And because I train them to be responsible now, which in itself is hard but worth it work, they will, I pray, have it so engrained in them, that they will be responsible when they leave our home. What benefit is it to them to do for them what they can and should do for themselves? It takes teamwork to maintain my home. I tell them, "As Christ did, let us seek to serve one another and not seek to be served."
AMEN to life training!!! May it be done for the glory of God. Yep, scrub those dishes for the glory of God!!! Look at it as a holy privilege, not drudgery. Use that chore time to memorize scripture, listen to edifying music, sing with your children. LIFE IS TOO SHORT not to find joy even in the mundane.
If we don't give our children responsibilities, they will grow up expecting everything to be done for them. What kind of person is that? I want my children to be able to do for others and themselves with joy(okay, so maybe they wont always be joyous about scrubbing the toilet ;-))
My parents gave me chores and I have been able to do for myself and my family. My sister-in-law still expects her Mom to do it all...and she does. I think I got the better deal!
Blessings,
Sommer
Crystal,
What an excellent reminder that we are to "train our children in the way they should go". I believe this extends not only to the spiritual realm but also to the physical realm of life. If we expect our little ones to grow into hard workers, we must first LIVE it ourselves and then TEACH it to them. Thank you for the link to such a wonderful article.
In His joy,
Mrs. Wilt
Just stopping by to let you know that I’m having a prayer chain for Emily, and wanted you to know that there are still open times if you'd be willing to commit to a specific time to pray for her and her family. Click the following link to take you there:
PRAYER LIST FOR EMILY ON MONDAY, APRIL 24TH
Thanks so much for praying!
In Him,
Amy
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