The Dignity of Work

John Paul II wrote, “Work is a way to self-fulfilment, through the growth and development of the potential and abilities which are acquired by training, experience and concrete activity.”

We often underestimate the power of work and the scope of how we work.  Adam works very hard for our family using his training and experience in software development.  But he also gets on-the-job training as husband and father when we comes home to me and our children.  My work raising our children and managing our home is not easy.  With Therese’s third birthday just around the corner in a few months, I decided she needs to learn the value of work.  I, as the manager of our home, have the responsiblity of training her with concrete activities and experiences. 

To make this concrete for her, she has a chore sheet.  It has picture of the things she needs to do like, set the table, put away the flatware, pick up her toys, vacuum, etc.  Whenever she does a chore she gets a sticker.  When she fills the page, she will get a small reward like a toy or video.  I wasn’t sure how this would go off, but so far so good. She loves it!  And not just the sticker part.  She loves the praise and feeling that she’s contributing to the work in our home. 

Thank you Lord for just a good little helper.  Help Therese and Fulton to find dignity and self-fullfillment in their work as your children and ours.