Something my parents did a pretty excellent job of emphasizing was work as an eternal principle. They taught us how to work. We have a whole list of numbered lectures my father gave to us while growing up. They range from "We don't do things where if we have an accident someone gets hurt or dies" to "If you were coming you would be here." But mixed in there somewhere in the middle are several about work. Among the most memorable:
"Start in a corner and work until it's done."
"Start at the top and work to the bottom."
"Don't take an hour to do a ten minute job."
"That ______ is not even pretending to be clean!"
"Wake up and get your jobs done. Then you can play for the rest of the day."
"Work hard. Play hard."
"Learn to love work."
It sounds like I had a pretty rough childhood, huh? :) But I didn't. That's the thing. Because I was taught to work efficiently and honestly. I was taught the value of an honest day's work. And it's served me very well in my role in the work place and now as a wife and mother. I haven't once, not a single time, cleaned the toilet without hearing "Start at the top and work to the bottom." These lectures, however much we griped, apparently did the trick!
I am SO thankful to my parents for these lessons. For their examples of work and the expectations they held for us. And if my siblings don't now, they will. Did you know that in college, of my 10 roommates there were at least 4 who literally did not know how to clean a toilet. As in, had never done it before. The apartment complexes had a "clean check checklist" that literally explained step by step how to clean a bathroom. It's for real guys!
And now that my husband has the great opportunity to work with student employees, I have the great opportunity of being thankful for my work ethic and the great desire to instill in my children the same honesty and efficiency. So here's what I'll teach my kids about work.
- When you're at work, work. You are being paid to provide a service. You are being paid for your time. So work. The whole time. Do not stop.
- When you have a job, show up. On time. Every time.
- Every place of work has some kind of dress code or uniform. Wear it. Always. And don't complain. It's a job. If you don't like it work somewhere else.
- Do not give excuses. Ever. Take ownership for your successes, but also for your mistakes.
- Treat everyone you work with professionally. When you write an email to your boss, use spell check, for goodness sake.
- Work. The whole time. Do not stop. Did I already say that? But it's so important. I would die if my boss walked in and I was sitting around doing nothing. I would be so embarrassed. And I hope my children would as well. I try not to get into the whole work thing because, hello, this is a public blog and word gets out. And let me tell you, word gets out. But I'll share this one experience because, well, I can't help it. We go to campus to pick up Scott's laptop after work one day because he had forgotten it. We walk into the auditorium where students are getting ready for a concert and one of them is full on laying down, on the floor, on the stage, playing on their phone. I was blown away. I mean, if you're ready for the concert and there's nothing else you can do, at the very least sit your butt in one of the hundreds of chairs and look professional while you wait! Work. The whole time. Do not stop.
- Find your own solutions. Use your brain. If you come upon a problem you don't know the answer to or run into a snag, use your resources and figure it out. A worker who has to be told every little thing to do it more annoying than useful.
- Enjoy it. I don't think that work has to be awful and dreaded. I think you can learn to love it. Not by slacking and getting away with doing to least you can do, but by learning to find satisfaction in a job well done.
I pray every day that I will be able to teach my children the value of work. Because it's something we have to do our entire lives. And it's something we'll do in the eternities.
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