Look what I found my boy doing this morning.
He took it upon himself to empty the front steps of their contents, sweep and then hose them clean.
When I walked through the living room and saw this scene out the front door, I came right out to see what was going on. Guess where I found him??...in the front garden bed pulling weeds. Love that guy.
Of course I thanked him for his hard work and he looked up at me with a smile but wordlessly continued on with the weeding, clearly he wasn't looking for praise from me, he was just happy in his work I guess.
As I walked away it struck me that he is SO My Boy.
In an instant I was flooded with memories, as a child spending free afternoons in all sorts of similar pursuits, weeding the brick walkway in our yard, raking leaves out from under trees, weeding gardens, chopping overgrown hedges, scrubbing kitchens, straightening up living spaces...the list goes on and on. Don't get me wrong, I definitely had my share of playtime, but for whatever reason there was something really fulfilling to me, even as a young child, to spend my time being productive in a way that would be helpful to my family. It gave me a great sense of purpose.
I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see my little man enjoy a bit of good, hard work. Of course, it's great to have a small helper, but more than that, I think it is fantastic that he is filled with that intrinsic motivation. Having the drive to accomplish things, to be busy with your hands, to be in pursuit of a finished product, is in my opinion one of the secrets to living a happy life. It builds self esteem, it fosters confidence, it gives one a sense of purpose. For me, it is what propels me through my days. Sometimes it's the simple completion of the most mundane tasks of maintaining our home, other times it is the joy of seeing a creative vision become a reality, a garden dug, something sewn, built or baked.
When one finds joy in these sorts of things I believe the lines between work and play begin to blur.
Certainly life is full of lots of "work", if my children are able to grow up in the knowledge that it can also bring joy and fulfillment, well then, what could be better than that??
