A Time to Teach
A Time to Teach
After reading the other articles in this issue I'm sure you are motivated to be a diligent worker. Which brings us to one of the jobs of parents, which must be done diligently, training of children. We must teach them to love and obey God's Word and the instruction of their parents. It is also important to train them academically, but these are not enough. We must teach children the right attitudes and motives for a proper view of work, and the skills necessary to complete daily work around the house. Before our children are able to be a blessing to others in the church, a spouse or employers they must be trained to be a blessing at home.
What is the work of children? The work of the family. We should root out selfishness and self-importance from the beginning of our training by teaching that the family is a team. As with any team different members will have different jobs, but the team as a whole succeeds or fails. The father as provider needs to earn an income, whether that is through an employer or self-employment much of his time will be occupied with provision. The mother, as a home worker, and the children will spend more time at home and therefore most of the work I refer to will be done by the mother and the children, though the father as head of the home is ultimately responsible.
The first hurdle mothers have to overcome is the fact that it is initially easier and faster for the adults to do the job themselves while the children get out of the way. The first 5 to 7 years of having children are what I call the "labor intensive years." At this point we breeders often have 3 to 5 children under 7. If you are at this point and haven't started training them yet, don't despair, start. None of these children may appear to have much potential as helpers at this point, you must put forth the effort to train them for two long term benefits, your children will be trained for their future and you will have trained help that is completely familiar with your home.
While you are in these labor intensive years focus your homemaking on three things, food, clothing and simplicity. The Bible teaches that with food and clothing we are to be content. I add to this simplicity because in our time we have too much. A mountain of toys and contraptions will make any home miserably impossible to clean.
Start with a list of jobs that need to be done in your home. I use a computer program, Calendar Creator, which allows me to schedule jobs for certain days of the week, once a month, once a year, etc. I then print out the work for the day and work through it throughout the day. If you do not have a deliberate plan, but clean as you see need, chaos will rule and you will never feel your days work is done.
Here is a cautionary warning. Do not let this schedule, or any other schedule, dictate over your husband. If your husband has a day free to play when you were planning to scrub the kitchen floor, you drop your plan and follow your husband. Similarly if there is a need in your church or community that you and your husband agree that your family should meet, drop your schedules and meet the need. These lists are tools, not laws.
Start training your children to help you with your list when your children become mobile. Look your list over and work on training one or two things. First show them what you want done, then have them do it while you watch, then let them do it. Continue this process slowly and deliberately until your children know how to faithfully do everything on the list. Obviously jobs must be age appropriate. For example a one-year-old can help with laundry round up and pick up toys. A two-year-old can dust and do baseboards. A three-year-old can sweep, feed pets, turn laundry right side out, fold washcloths, pair socks and more. By eight years of age a child is capable of doing a majority of the routine household duties.
Children can be a asset on big projects, and get satisfaction when a big job is done. Jobs like stripping wallpaper have roles for every mobile member of the family. The littlest ones can pick up the trash while the adults and older children scrape. Gardening is a great family job, as are animals and their care.
Don't neglect to give your boys the boy jobs around the house. If there is outside work, like chopping wood or hauling things give it to the boys, while the girls focus on the work inside. If you don't have any outside work consider making some. While boys should know how to do the inside work, ultimately you want them to grow up to be men, not homemakers. Having a source of wood heat in your home will be a great source of work for your son. Give your sons a real role in projects around the house. For example, at age 5, our son was given responsibility for, and accomplished stripping the linoleum squares from three rooms we were remodeling. Use all that boyish energy for good, and give them lots of hard physical work to build a strong man with a strong work ethic.
The work environment is crucial to your success. Our children must see in our attitude and life that God is glorified in the seemingly tedious jobs done faithfully and cheerfully as unto the Lord. We must train our children to do everything for the glory of God. A fearful truth is that your children's attitudes about work will mirror your own.
We are not just teaching skills. I was once asked, sarcastically, how often someone needs to wash dishes before they know how. Often enough to know the joy of doing a simple task for the glory of God.
You have heard it said- everyone has the same amount of time in a day. I beg to differ. The family that has 2 adults and 4 trained children over the age of 6 has at least 3 times as much time as the family that has 2 adults and 4 lazy children. The family that has learned to wash the dishes immediately has at least an hour more a day than the family that washes hardened dishes. We must wisely use our resources. Our children are our greatest resource. Multiply your efforts by training them to cheerfully work for the good of your household and your community. Above all live and teach this: whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.