These pictures display what my kids are usually busy doing while I am trying to cook dinner or do the dishes. They want to be at my feet getting out every dish and kitchen appliance that they can get their hands on! I often times will find toys in the cabinets when I go to reach for a mixing bowl, pot or pan!
No matter where I go in the house my children are never too far behind. Every now and then I would find myself getting bothered by this constant companionship. I have a very type A personality and I tend to get overly focused on completing a task. The problem with this is that I sometimes end up pushing my children to the background in the name of being productive. I'll get them busy doing some chores or try to get them interested in a toy or an activity so that I can get stuff done...but where is the companionship in all of this, the Deut. 6?
I think it is important for them to see me doing chores around the house and I think they need to do their part to contribute as well. I also think it is good for children to be able to occupy and entertain themselves for short spurts of time. The problem occurs when there isn't a proper balance between work and moments of engagement. If I see that my children are happily engaged in something then I will be tempted to just keep going with my work around the house and before I know it an hour or two might pass. The crazy thing is that there is always something to be done around the house. I could be working on it all day long, but the next day it would be the same and the next and the next. I often think of Ecclesiastes when I think of house work. A lot of times I feel it is all in vain because the minute I do dishes the sink is full again and the minute I fold the last piece of laundry the basket is full. Though it is good and necessary for these things to be done and I obviously understand the purpose behind them, I sometimes wonder can the dishes and the laundry just wait? I am positive they will still be there tomorrow in an even greater quantity...but in the big picture it might be more important for me to just sit down and read a book to Elijah or do a puzzle with Caleb or roll a ball around on the floor with Jonas. Even more than that I should involve them in the preparing and cooking of meals and letting them help me do the dishes or sweep the floor- which I sometimes don't let them do because I have a certain way I like to do things...but it would be so much more beneficial to them if I could just let go of some of my perfectionism and just let them accompany me in these daily tasks. I have come to the conclusion that they are better of by my side rather than being left to themselves. That way I can really live out Deut. 6 and I can teach them God's truth and wisdom as we walk though this life TOGETHER.
