Saturday, December 11, 2010

Children and Boredom

The principal cause of boredom is the hatred of work.  People are trained from childhood to hate it.  Parents often feel guilty about making children do anything but the merest gestures toward work.  Perhaps the children are required to make their beds and, in a feeble and half-hearted fashion, tidy up their rooms once a month or so.  But take full responsibility to clear the table, load the dishwasher, scrub the pots, wipe the counters?  How many have the courage to ask this of a ten-year old?  It would be too much to ask of many ten-year-olds because parents have seriously asked nothing of them when they were two or three.  Children quickly pick up the parents' negative attitudes toward work and think of it as something most sedulously to be avoided.  ~Elisabeth Elliot

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8 comments:

  1. wow not true over here, our little one, 31/2 and 2 years old help with cleaning, sweeping, baking cooking laundry dishes etc... They actually LOVE doing it and sitting down with mama to read a book is a great reward for a job well done :-)

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  2. My little ones love to help out too. I think they all start out that way until they witness the hatred of work from others.

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  3. But how about us, we mothers are the best exampled for them, we are with them all day long.

    Don't you think we ought to be extra careful on how we serve them????

    My inlaws had 12 children, all homeschooled and working in the family buisness and all have good work ethics and a beautiful servant heart!

    I think if we model Jesus in the way we serve it would help our children to be train.

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  4. Oh yes, I am not sure if you're misunderstanding? I agree with you completely :)
    But we must be careful never to grumble about our work then :)

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  5. Yes, children do pick up our attitudes very quickly! It's good for them to see that even the most awful task can be done without drama. I agree that they should be included very early in helping around the home! Elisabeth Elliot always has wise words to share :-)
    God bless you, Mrs Q ..Trish

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  6. Mine may initially groan about it, but they always end up crooning songs or just enjoying each others' company...They are just at the age that they understand the "Experiments" chapter of Little Women... :)

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  7. Mrs. Q,

    This is a very good quote from Elisabeth Elliot. I am curious, which book of hers did this quote come from?

    Children do need to learn responsibilities while they are younger, other wise, when then get older, it will be more difficult for them to take work seriously.

    Blessings,

    -Lady Rose

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