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Instilling A Work Ethic Is No Easy Task

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2009

My father was the kind of guy who just didn't know how to take a day off or a vacation that actually involved total relaxation. If he didn't have a project (or 20) going, he just wasn't happy.

Growing up, I learned to appreciate his work ethic and took it to heart. After all, the fruits of his labor resulted in just about every home I ever lived in as a child being remodeled from the ground up, room by room. When Dad wanted a screen porch, he built it with his own hands. When I wanted a bedroom with a chair rail, frilly wall paper on top and powder blue walls on the bottom, he made it happen. If we needed a new bookshelf, television stand or cabinets, he built them himself.

All these things took place in the evening hours after he put in full days working as a mechanical engineer. As I said, the man just didn't know how to relax!

What Dad was able to do, I've since learned, was "cool." Seeing him work around the clock to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary was visually impressive and it had an impact on all six of his kids. While I adopted his never-relax mentality, I've discovered my talents just aren't as impressive in the minds of my two young daughters. After all, I sit and type on a computer a whole lot of my time. There's just nothing glamorous or awe-inspiring about answering e-mails, writing stories or filing photographs. While my oldest understands I'm working, my 3-year-old is pretty convinced I'm playing some sort of game that she can't take part in.

Since my own example has been going nowhere fast, I've been trying to come up with other ways to show my little ones the value of hard work. It struck me recently that my oldest is now mature enough to watch "Little House on the Prairie" and perhaps learn a lesson or two.

After making it through the first disk of season one, she was, in fact, quite amazed with how much work and struggle "Pa Ingalls" put into the little house. She did, unfortunately, think it was crazy he didn't "hire some help."

Just when I thought all was lost, however, she came out with a lesson of her own. After getting a good idea of how well the Ingalls worked together and how poorly the Olesons did, she announced she would rather have to struggle and live as a "real family" than spend a day as an Oleson.

I may never turn my oldest into a workaholic like myself and her grandfather, but it seems she's on the right track where it counts the most.

Sherri Lonon is the editor of In The Loop.

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