Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

This year I have set some personal goals as well as a few for my family. Aside from the goals I have set, I also have a list of things I’d like to get done around the house. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with either of those lists. 

However, I already got a good start on the list of things for my house. Let me explain. 

Yesterday afternoon. I got to take a nap after church, which is rare for me. Anyway, I got to take one and it was wonderful. I woke up and still had a while to go before our evening service. It was one of those afternoons where my kids were kind of driving me crazy and I heard “mom” only about three hundred and eighty times. Well, I had a few things that I had to get done that afternoon. So I gave them something to do to keep them busy. 

I was thinking of some “easy” things on my to do list that aren’t urgent and they could easily get done for me. This particular job involved all three girls so I told them they had to take turns and there couldn’t be any fighting. We have a hamper full of junk mail and credit card offers that we let stack up for a while and then we shred. So, this is the job I gave them.

I told the girls this was a super cool job and I really needed their help. Their eyes got pretty big when I told them they actually got to use the shredder. I showed them how to use it and gave very clear safety instructions (don’t put your fingers near the shredder). Then I gave them a stack of papers and let them have at it. 

Stella told me, “We’ll do this job anytime you want us too.”

That works for me. Honestly, who has time to sit and shred that much paper? Not me.

For a solid twenty minutes, I didn’t hear the word “mom” and the only thing I heard was the shredder and giggles. Only twenty minutes you ask? Yes, because the older girls started burying their baby sister in the papers… Don’t feel bad for her though. She was eating it up.

So, parents did you ever hand off a job to your kids that you didn't want to do and they loved it?