For those of you who don't know, Faver is the term of endearment that Milly Molly Mandy (of the adorable English Milly Molly Mandy books) uses when she talks of her Father. One of her greatest joys in life is working with her "Faver". It never ceases to amaze me how much my children LOVE working with their dad. That's not to say that they don't like working with me, but given a choice, they always choose him! I have come to realize working with dad is an integral part of kids growing up and becoming usefull, competant human beings. With mom, they do regular, ordinary things...dishes, school, mopping, canning, cooking, baking (read boring!). With dad, they get to transform their world. Here, our 10 year old daughter is helping her dad install new solar panels on our roof - she is literally lighting up our lives!
Here, three of the kids are "helping" till the garden. I guess I can see why they would rather work with dad than do the dishes with mom!
As our children have gotten older, we have noticed that its REALLY important for the boys to work with dad. We call the boys MIT's (Men in Training). There are so many things guys have to know! Our youngest son is helping his dad put up racking.
Youngest son, who is two, wants to be just like dad. The only thing that he asked for for Christmas was a chainsaw. His big sister, our oldest daughter, made him saw chaps, just like dad's. Last weekend, the men got their saws out, and went to work on the wood deck.
As you can see, all of the kids get into the action. Oldest son (14) and middle daughter (11-almost) usually are in charge of the wood splitter, that just leaves "Faver" and youngest son sawing!
All that work going on outside, and eldest daughter (20) and I are left in the house doing the housework and making breakfast! Sigh....Sometimes I feel like I get the short end of the stick when it comes to "big, big help", but at the end of the day, I know that our kids are the lucky ones. For them, working with "Faver" will form lifelong memories, good work ethic and the knowledge that they can do anything they set their mind to. We all come out ahead!!!
Here, three of the kids are "helping" till the garden. I guess I can see why they would rather work with dad than do the dishes with mom!
As our children have gotten older, we have noticed that its REALLY important for the boys to work with dad. We call the boys MIT's (Men in Training). There are so many things guys have to know! Our youngest son is helping his dad put up racking.
Youngest son, who is two, wants to be just like dad. The only thing that he asked for for Christmas was a chainsaw. His big sister, our oldest daughter, made him saw chaps, just like dad's. Last weekend, the men got their saws out, and went to work on the wood deck.
As you can see, all of the kids get into the action. Oldest son (14) and middle daughter (11-almost) usually are in charge of the wood splitter, that just leaves "Faver" and youngest son sawing!
All that work going on outside, and eldest daughter (20) and I are left in the house doing the housework and making breakfast! Sigh....Sometimes I feel like I get the short end of the stick when it comes to "big, big help", but at the end of the day, I know that our kids are the lucky ones. For them, working with "Faver" will form lifelong memories, good work ethic and the knowledge that they can do anything they set their mind to. We all come out ahead!!!
Short end of the stick! I'll bet the one thing on that family's mind is, the warmth and the good food that will be waiting for them when they are done. Can you imagine if you and your daughter were out there in the snow helping them and then you all returned to a cold dark house with nothing warm to drink and nothing ready to eat. Thank you Mom, for being there to welcome your family out of the snow. Holly
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