Is There a Reward For Work Done Well??

Barbara Johnson said once…

The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.

Wow.  That’s true, isn’t it? 

At the moment, my boys wouldn’t appreciate the humor in that nugget of wisdom.

I’ve made them clean their room.  And they only just got done straightening the playroom.  That’s three days in a row of cleaning and straightening (they tell me).  The horror!  Surely I’m guilty of child abuse…

I’ve heard it all.  All the complaints, all the moaning, and all the groaning.  I’ve also heard every excuse in the book as to why they shouldn’t have to do the job, or do it as thoroughly as I’m insisting they attend to it.  Including, this, from Mr. Nameless, “But, I’m not a neat freak!” 

Yes, I know.

Sigh. 

That’s part of the reason a two hour job has taken three days.  That, and the countless times distractions have lured them away from the task.

So, I’m facing a struggle every mom grapples with on occasion.

Am I being too demanding?  Am I expecting too much?  Should I help them finish?  My mom said on the phone today, “Don’t be too hard on them.  We always went easy on you…”  CHokE, CoUGh…Really?  Well, maybe that will be another post…how moms change when you put the “Grand” in front of their names, and their memories go, too.

But seriously, how do you handle the constant complaining?  Or the blaming of everyone else for what happens?  Or even their threats to just quit?

It’s never easy being a mom.  But it’s even harder, when great and capable kids refuse to step up to the plate, buckle down, and work together to get a job done in a timely manner.

This time, I’ve stood firm.  Although the phone rang countless times over the last few days with invitations to this friend’s house or that, I didn’t let them off the hook.  I also didn’t get down in the trenches (much) to help.

It’s hard.  Because you really do want them to have fun, and to do things with their friends.  It’s  hard to say “No, I’m sorry, but you can’t go”. 

But is extending a deadline (again), or lowering expectations, really helping them? 

When I look at it that way, the questions fall away.  There is nothing to consider.  If I love my boys, I will make them finish, and finish well. 

Some day, they will have a real job (I hope!).  And a real boss.  Their boss won’t struggle as I do.  He will expect the job done, and done well.  That is, if they are to have the opportunity to work again the next day.  Otherwise, their boss will simply get someone else for the job.

Teaching a good work ethic is a rotten job.  It is a thankless job (especially, at the moment).  But it is one of the most loving and important jobs we as moms can do for our children.

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

Our walk in service to the Lord is the same.  It takes time, and commitment, and endurance, and often, hard work.

At some point, we all want to be able to say…

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness…

2 Timothy 4:7-8

And we want our children to be able to say that, too, in whatever they set their hands to do.