
I don’t know what got into this boy, but WOW!
So far,
Hive account@mama-pepper and I have five
Hive account@little-peppers, all age seven and below. The one in the cover photo is our oldest son, “Monster Truck,” who is currently four years old. Since we have not officially began homeschooling him yet, he mostly hangs out with me throughout the day when I am at home.
I teach and train him in things that are at his capability level and level of understanding, and try to model for him how a man should live, work, and interact with others. Though is not learning things from a schoolbook, this little guy is learning.
However, much like a lot of us, he has his moments. Sometimes, he acts up or acts out, and he can make things rough for others as well as himself. Through repeated instruction and correction, he’s making progress day by day. Yesterday, though, he was amazing!

THAT’S MY BOY!

Currently, I am remodeling a guesthouse near where we are staying. We are tearing out the carpet to replace it with an engineered wood flooring, repainting the place, do many minor repairs and improvements, and trying to make it shine by the time that we are done. It’s a lot of work, but I’m hoping to finish my part of the work this week. However, this can be tough, especially for just one man. Since this place is very close to where we stay, I’ve got my boy tagging along with me. While he is free to play and entertain himself in other ways, often he just wants to help.

”Helping” for a child of his age isn’t always “helpful,” if you know what I mean. Where many would decline the offer made by such a young man, I’m of another mindset. If this guy wants to learn real life skills when he’s four, then he can learn. Worst case scenario, when he gets older, he’ll already know how to work like a champ because he’s at least seen it done. Though one may not always be capable of completing the task, if someone is familiar with the concept and general idea, it’ll be much easier to do once they are able to do it. Though I expected him to mostly watch me work, he really got in there and was able to bless me.

HE JUST KEEPS GOING!

Time and time again he was a capable, and willing, assistant for me in my day of work. @Mama-pepper had taken the girls and the baby to town to do some shopping after school was over, so I got some extra time to work on this project, and “Monster Truck” was right there with me until the end. He helped remove painting tape, hand me tools all day, roll up the carpet and underlayment, and much, much more.

He even scraped, and scraped, and scraped to get the floor clean of all glue and residue. Normally, he’ll lose interest after a few minutes, after all, he is just a little boy. However, for some reason he kept going. I was so blown away that I began to take photos working so hard. I even asked him if children were just free labor for the parents. He laughed, because he knows that is not the case. Helping out makes him feel big, prepares him for life, and lets him have some fun with me. Sure, it’s work, but it doesn’t have to be a sad, dreary time. We can talk, have fun, and enjoy our time together. Interestingly enough, when a neighbor stopped in to work on a few other things in the house, Monster Truck was the only one of us who had a tape measure, which the man needed to use several times. We had bought him a little tape measure months ago, and somehow he knew it would be a good idea to bring it with him. I didn't even realize that he had it.
I’m not sure how many people really enjoy things like this with their children, but I sure am glad that I can. I’ve met a lot of “young men” in my time who seem to be lazy, entitled fools with no work ethic or respect for anyone or anything, themselves included. I think that there are already too many people like that out there for me to teach, *or allow*, my children to do the same. I’m not sure what their future will hold, but I want them to at least be prepared to do the best job that they can, and also to know exactly what they can do.
I hope that you enjoyed this little story about my son. Perhaps he’ll be helping me put in the flooring today. After all, it is basically just one giant puzzle!

But we were too busy working to prove it.
Until next time…
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GIF provided by
Hive account@orelmely
