a good work ethic

Last weekend I overheard Jeneva telling her uncle Jason that she really likes to organize.

The other day when I asked her to help me with laundry in the basement her response was "Yes, I LOVE to put the soap in! I LOVE to help you do laundry, mama!"

It was that same day that I said I was getting ready to clean the bathroom and she ASKED to help.

We decided to put her to work washing dishes for the first time that evening (note the picture). She LOVED it. "I will do the dishes all day and all night!" She said. Well that's handy especially since we don't have a dishwasher.

Today I got on a spring cleaning kick. Joyfully she dusted the baseboards and helped wash a few windows.

Now Jeneva has been a pretty good "helper" since she's been a wee tike. The question is WILL she exhibit the same excitement for cleaning and organizing when she is, oh, say, 12? Most likely not. So, I must take it while I can get it now while she is yet at the innocent age of 4. Even if her "cleaning" and "organizing" doesn't meet my standards...I would never tell her that.

Oh, I LIKE organization and tidiness too. In fact, one of my favorite past times is to read magazines and books on organization. All that to say, however; I have a difficult time doing it. It probably doesn't help that the closets my lovely 1920's home has are about 3 inches deep. And did I mention that I only have four closets?

So, anyway, how does one instill in their child a good work ethic? Is it a natural trait? Is it learned? Some people just seem to naturally have a good work ethic (that'd be my dad)(oh, AND my mom). Either Jeneva naturally has a good work ethic or we have trained her well. Not sure. Probably a little bit of both.

Steve is a Juvenile Corrections Officer. Basically he works with criminals between the ages of 13 and 18. One day a week they are required to clean the facility that they are residing in. Steve was helping a couple of the boys clean a particular area of the building. A back stair case that was apparently pretty dirty and grimy. Steve was demonstrating the use of the mop/bucket/sponge/what have you to clean the steps. One of the boys said "hey, that looks really good. It's clean!" (keep in mind these are basically gangsta's who come from the hood and most likely aren't typically into cleaning and hard work). A couple of minutes later they were finishing cleaning the steps for Steve. Scrubbing. Mopping. Scrubbing some more. They were actually getting into it and the result was clean shiny steps. They even stepped back to admire their work at the end and were proud of what they had done. That's right. PROUD. Good pride. They were proud of what they had accomplished. They had immediate results and it felt good to have clean steps. What's my point here? I'm not really sure, I guess just that maybe these boys have a somewhat natural work ethic, but just need to be trained and encouraged.

Oh, how I want to instill in my kids a good hard work ethic. I was trained to work hard, for that I am grateful, but my tendency is to be lazy. Grrrrr.

Who needs a real dishwasher anyway? I have Jeneva.