Aaron and I strongly believe in having a good work ethic. At an early age, we were taught to work and to get the job done right. As a teenager, I remember hearing other parents tell my Dad that he was too strict and that I worked too hard. At that age, there were times that I would have agreed with those parents. Now, looking back, I am thankful for the way I was raised. It’s made me who I am and because of that I am not afraid of work.
We want to instill a good, strong work ethic in Kiera. She has a few random chores and helps us around the house. This last week, she mentioned that she wanted a big kid’s job. Since I had to work late and we were sharing a car for the day, I thought it would be a great idea for Kiera to do some work at the store.
Aaron picked Kiera up from her after school program and brought her up to the store. Once she arrived, I explained to her that we had a couple of jobs that she could do. She was ecstatic and quickly changed out of her school uniform into her “work” clothes.
“How about you start by sweeping?” I asked as I led her to the broom. She excitedly agreed to sweep as she hopped, not walked, to the broom. I handed her the broom and dustpan and explained that she could walk around the store looking for dirt.Pleased with her enthusiasm, I headed to my office and began my work. Five short minutes later, a different child walked in my office. Actually, she didn’t walk as much as she trudged. Her shoulders were slumped and even with her head hanging, I knew that when she looked up her lip would be in full pout mode.
“Honey? What’s wrong?” I asked, saving my work before turning from the computer.
“Daddy won’t let me mop.” She stated as she dropped the broom on the ground.
I hid a smile and pulled her in for a hug. “Baby, right now, we need you to sweep.”
“But, I want to mop!” She emphatically stated.
Knowing how much my co-worker would love me for my next statement, I said, “Well, baby… Mrs. Kim really loves to mop. I know she would be sad if she didn’t get to mop.”
Grudgingly, she agreed to wait until Mrs. Kim wanted to mop. She picked up the broom and dustpan and headed back out. Happy that a crisis had been averted, I went back to work.
As I worked, I noticed that she busied herself organizing t-shirts and cleaning a table. A few minutes passed before she came back in my office. Continuing to work, I asked how her job was going.
“Well, I am done. I came in here to clean.” She said as she began walking around my desk.
“That would be great, honey.” I replied, thinking how nice it would be to have someone straighten the piles of paper that I had lying on my desk.
I pointed to a small pile of color sheets that I keep in my office for entertaining kiddos. “Could you straighten that pile up for me?”
“Sure.” She answered.
I flagged down one of my co-workers, Sherry, otherwise known as Mimi Sherry to Kiera, as she was leaving for the day so I could question her about some instructions. As we talked, I suddenly noticed that Kiera had opened my desk drawer. She picked up a stack of papers and began placing them in the drawer.
I paused in my conversation and turned to Kiera. “Umm… what are you doing, honey?” I asked.
“I am cleaning.” She replied as she continued to place my papers in the drawer. “Remember, this is where all your stuff goes.” She glanced at Mimi Sherry before adding, “She forgets lots of things.”
“I’ll help her remember.” Mimi Sherry replied as she struggled to not laugh.
“I don’t forget lots of things!” I interjected, feeling the need to stick up for myself.
As Kiera moved the paper into my desk, she uncovered a small children’s book. “What’s this?” she asked.
I hung my head, before answering, “It’s a book for you.” I didn’t add the part about forgetting it was there.
Sherry grinned as she watched Kiera continue her cleaning spree of my office and wished me luck before she left for the day.
As I worked, Kiera flittered around the office. She moved items to different shelves because they “looked better” where she placed them. Finally, she decided to focus her attention on the first stack of papers that I had pointed her towards. She began to sort out previously colored pages. “We don’t keep paper when it is old.” She explained to me as she put them in a separate pile.
She picked up a picture and transferred it to another shelf. “It’s a busy day for me, isn’t it?”
Amazingly enough, I had managed to get quite a bit of work accomplished while the mini tornado of organization worked in my office. I began to close down my computer programs and let her know that we were going to be leaving in a few minutes.
“Oh! But, I haven’t cleaned your other drawers.” She said as she opened another desk drawer.
“It’s ok, honey. I will let you clean it next time.” I replied as I shuddered to imagine how she would organize it.
As I picked up my purse, Kiera ran back to one of my shelves and grabbed two pictures. One was a wedding picture of Aaron and I and the other was a picture of her.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
I watched as she carried them to my co-worker’s side of the office and placed them on his shelf. ‘I’m putting them here so Shane can look at them every day when he leaves.” She stated matter-of-factly as she exited the office.
I shook my head, too tired to argue with her logic and turned off the office light. I made a mental note to explain to Shane in the morning why my pictures were on his shelf.
As I walked into the shop area, I watched her beaming with pride as she told her Daddy how she had worked. I pulled two dollars out of my purse and handed it to her. “You did a great job today.” I said as she jumped up and down, waving her two dollars at her Daddy.
I turned to Aaron as she ran to the pickup door. “I just paid our daughter two dollars to organize my office the way she wanted to.” I said with a laugh.
What can I say… she’s not afraid to work, but we might have to talk about which one of us is the boss.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five year old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
