wisdom from grant and brenda

we've all been there. you're a teenager, your parents say, "someday you'll believe me and you'll call me to tell me just how right i was." you roll your eyes in disrespect and your parents know that they're right. they know b/c they were teens once too. they got the same lecture from their parents. and one day, they realized.... their parents were RIGHT.

honestly, i always knew my parents were right. even when they were dead wrong, there was always a hint of right-ness about their words. of course, i would never have owned up to that knowledge. my sister says i was born an adult. it's probably true. i was ridiculously responsible about the most stupid things. don't get me wrong, i was still a stupid kid. but i know i was the friend that frequently ruined the fun... or saved my friends from being arrested--you're all welcome, by the way.

when we were growing up my mom tried desperately to instill in us quality characteristics of a godly woman. my mom isn't a sitter.... she just doesn't sit to sit. she's always doing something. i don't know that she's ever watched an entire movie in one sitting. she gets up and putters. so, when we were younger she would give us jobs around the house. as most children, we dragged our feet the majority of the time, and on occasion she decided that it was easier to do it herself. she still gave us jobs, and we still gave her attitude about it. then she went back to school. oh, crud. now my dad was big time on our backs about helping around the house. we were teenagers and needed to start pulling more weight...especially since my mom was busting her tail to get through school and still be a mom and wife.

i had a major flash back to some of those days when my parents came over to drop some stuff off for meg's room. our current home is set up in a similar way to the house in which i grew up. the bedroom doors are easily opened when you're standing in the middle of the hallway... or square-way as i call it, since it's really more of a square than an actual hall. my dad used to stand in the hall and bang our bedroom doors open in the mornings to wake us up with a list of jobs before he left for work. so there he stood in my current hallway and said, "let's see if it still works *bang* *bang* *opens both doors just like the old days* you kids get this house clean and help your ma today!" holy cow!! i was standing in megan's room, which is in the same spot of my old bedroom, and when i saw him standing there i felt like a lazy teenager again..... yowza!! freaky deaky let me tell ya.

so, since i have become my mother in more ways than i'm willing to admit, i have started the journey of giving connor jobs around the house. he's still young enough to really enjoy the responsibility. i tell him what a responsibility is... i tell him that daddy goes to work and mommy works at home... i talk about doing our jobs with a happy attitude... some days he tells me he doesn't want to do a job. at least he says, "no, thank you." but then he realizes that he doesn't exactly have a choice.

during the past week, his job list has increased quite a bit. he took out the trash with daddy for the first time last night. he was so excited about it i had to take a picture. that gave me the idea to take some pics of him doing a few of his daily jobs around the house. so, now for the wisdom from my dad..... he used to say--after giving us our list of daily jobs-- "this is why i had kids!" of course, i was convinced he had kids so he didn't have to get up and change the channel... pre-clicker days, of course. we were always having to change the channel for him.

oh, and if we ever got out of line when we were doing our jobs he would whip out this gem... "kids are like doritos... we can always make more!"

i have to do WHAT???

let's go little man.... it's trash night.

nathan took him in the backyard so he could empty out the trash cans and connor grabbed one of the big bags like there was nothin' to it. he was quite impressed with himself. i'm sure the excitement of taking out the trash will wear off quickly. :)

one of connor's jobs is to empty the hampers into my laundry baskets.

and he loves to be dramatic and say, "whoa.... this is heavy!"

a ham even when he's working.

sliding the basket to the steps.... his favorite part of this job.

time to make the bed.... first, get the pillow and night-nights off and out of the way.

next, pull the covers down.... i cracked up at his pinky here. like he's every really that careful or delicate!

and finally, smooooooooth out the covers.....well, as good as you can. then mom comes to the rescue.

so those are a few of his jobs. now if you'll excuse me i have to get the clicker to change the channel..... oh, stink it's way over there..... um..... connor???