Yesterday afternoon, I took the kids over to my parents’ property so they could run around with sharp, pointy sticks and play with fire (or, as the case may be, stick the sharp, pointy sticks in the fire and then run around with them) while I went for a walk.
My husband and older son were already up there working. When schedules allow, my son has been getting up early to hitch a ride over to the property with his dad, or sometimes he’ll ride the 2 ½ miles on his bike.
After a full day of work, my son glows with sunburn, sweat, and pride at being able to wear a tool belt and his papa’s straw hat and work boots. He’s pretty pumped about having his own packed lunch and getting to hang out with The Men.
I confess, seeing my son caulking boards up there yesterday, my heart swelled up just a bit. Finally, after all these years of trying to get him to jump in and apply himself already, he’s finally doing it.
However, my back-patting got cut short first thing this morning when I assigned him the simple tasks of scrubbing the bathroom floor and sweeping the porches. He did a staggeringly horrendous job and then had a hissy fit when I insisted they be redone properly. (I won.)
So, to summarize, the gig’s not up yet. But still, it’s nice to see glimpses of the future.
(And, to be clear, it’s the hard worker that I see in the future, not the hissy fitter. Call me Pollyanna, but in cases such as these, I’m an eternal optimist.)
This same time, years previous: polyester bras
4 Comments
Starr
It's funny, the second I saw the photo of your son working, I thought, "She must be so proud!"
Anonymous
LoL. "Why do My kids stare at me with such bewilderment and confusion….." I get the same thing! In another article, I saw one of your younger sons and you asked, "Do all kids have to stick out their tongues when they see a camera?" YES — of course until they get older and become confused and bewildered ……….
Rachelle
My senior year in high school, the city (more like a town, really) I lived in was doing this big community project to build a fancy play structure in the town park. We were allowed to take half days off of classes to go volunteer, if we wanted to, and some teachers would take their entire class down for the hour. (Small town, the park was pretty close to the schools.) You'd never seen so many kids so excited to do work! There's just something inspiring about building from the ground up.
When I was younger, I used to love hanging around the houses that were being build in the family. The smell of fresh-cut lumber and mud, the way the sunlight slanted through the frame of the house. It always seemed kind of magical.
Dan and Diione Murch
It's nice to start to see the fruits of your labor. You should be a proud Mama