Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Little House on the Prairie: Part 2

Let me first begin by directing you to yesterday's story, the original Little House post. It may remind you, also, of this post, where I uncovered the 'secret' to our financial discipline --- reading Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover! Such sage advice - from the 19th century (Little House) to the 21st (Dave Ramsey).

Yesterday was the twins' 7th birthday! We celebrated with their friends with separate parties in the month of August --- the boys saw Clone Wars and the girls watched Cheetah Girls One World. On their birthday, then, we celebrated with our family here at home. Although our house remained (relatively) clean from our neighborhood party last weekend, I still faced a few, shall we say, "problem areas" yesterday in an effort to prep the house for visitors - even those who love and know us well enough to know what our home looks like on a regular basis! I still like to maintain the image of cleanliness and organization. Even when they really know my truly perpetual state of dirt and disorganization!

The twins were off to school and Baby S napped. But Meiners was home yesterday and awake. Wide awake. And wanting some attention. My first few reactions were to put him off. Send him on his way. And eventually grow a little snappy as I valiantly tried to pick up scattered toys and stacks of papers and everything else he innocently got into as I came before and went behind him picking and picking and picking up.

Then, I paused, stopping myself from a full-fledged Mommy verbal assault. I thought, 'what would they have done in the days of Little House?' And just as suddenly, an idea formed in my head. It began to resemble something like this:

Meiners learns the art of folding laundry

Meiners learns to make the sink FLY

Meiners gets real tools

(unlike his sister)

Laura and her sisters worked alongside their parents. They learned to manage a home and work the land at an early age. Shoot. I remember driving my dad's Chevy pick-up through ditches to the fields when I was the twins' age to deliver lunch from my grandmother to 'the guys.' Even Pioneer Woman's kids continue this same 'tradition' of driving feed trucks and hauling hay. So why not teach my 4 year-old that he has worth and is an integral part of his 'modern-age' (suburban, middle class) family? He had the time of his life! And maybe the laundry took a little bit longer than usual. But we accomplished it all! Which is more than I could have said had I melted down in stress and unreason and then bathed in my own guilt!

Yup. I still have a lot to learn. Good thing I'm watching those Little House reruns!

(Wow! The resemblance is uncanny...)