Make them miserable now, they will thank you later.

Raising kids to be kind and loving people is one of the hardest things you may ever do, but the payoff is worth every bit of effort you put in.

"Don't handicap your child by making their life easy." Robert A. Heinlein

The phone call

It's a regular Tuesday morning. I am just starting give myself my morning pep talk. "Time to get up. You've got to make them breakfast, make sure teeth are brushed and their clothes are clean. Then out the door with them. You can do this!" And then, the phone rings. A phone call at 6:30 in the morning can't ever be a good thing right?

So I answer and I hear the recorded message from our school district, "Due to weather and snow issues school is cancelled for the day." What!? What did they just say?. School cancelled? That can not be right. Where we live, school does not get cancelled for anything, especially snow. In fact, I don't think our district has had a snow day in lie 60 years. This does not happen. I think to myself "Maybe I will just let them sleep? Yeah, that's what I will do. I will let them sleep. I will quietly sneak out of my room and have a few minutes piece." I get up and slowly open my door, it creaks, then I hear it. The groaning, the sighing, the grumbling. They're awake!

I figure I better get breakfast started and I'll tell them the news at the table. "I'm sure they will be devastated and beg to go to school even if there is no one there!" I think. Yeah right! Never gonna happen. I break the terrible news to them over pancakes and scrambled eggs. There was not a devastated face amongst them. Not a sad face or cry of dismay. They. Were. Thrilled.

Let the craziness begin

Immediately they all wanted to get dressed and go out in the snow to play. Ok, this was my second chance for some time for myself and to get some stuff done. I just need to get them all ready for their outdoor adventure. I proceed to dress all 6 of them in hats, coats, boots, gloves, blah, blah, blah, and one by one they head out the backdoor to a winter wonderland. I sigh, eat the last bite of pancake that was left on someone's plate and begin to gather up the dishes. Then it hits me, a gust of freeeeezzzing cold air. I turn to see 6 kids trudging back into the house. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Mom, It's freezing and my nose is cold." "Mom, Laith hit me in the face with a snow ball!" "Mom, I don't want to be out there anymore, it's too cold." "Mom, can we have hot chocolate now?" "With marshmallows!" came the chorus of chaos that was now undressing at the back door. I soon found myself standing in the middle of a pile of rapidly melting clothing with dirty breakfast dishes still in hand.

After a little bit of help cleaning up they were now all settled in with their cocoa and marshmallows. Ugh! More dishes to wash!

Grab a shovel

The morning continued to be chaotic. They were bored, had pulled out every possession that they owned, had asked for 27 snacks and now the fighting had started and it wasn't even 10 am. As I stood in the living room in the middle of a mess I saw her out my window. Our sweet neighbor, Doris. She was a widow living alone in her home and she adored all the kids in the neighborhood. She was out attempting to shovel the snow we had received the previous night. It was a very slow process. So I said to the kids, "Who wants to help Doris shovel her snow?" Blank stares. "I'll buy you pizza for lunch?!?" That did it. They all jumped up and began to reapply their previously discarded winter attire and ran to the garage to be the first to get the "good shovel." Then they all ran across the street to help our sweet Doris. I made a quick sweep of the house to tidy up just a bit then I dressed for the weather and ran outside to help as well.

With the help of seven additional people we made quick work of Doris' snow. When we were done the kids were rewarded by our neighbor with a whole package of cookies. Not just one cookie each, a whole package to share. They couldn't believe it. As we all walked back across the street one of them says "I wonder if anyone else will give us stuff for shoveling their snow?!" Then another, "Mom, can we go shovel the Smith's snow?" "Sure!" I said. Then off they went. The Smith's were not home so the kids were not rewarded for their work there. But a miraculous thing was occurring. They didn't care that there wasn't a treat. They were proud of the work that they had done, AND they weren't fighting. They were working together and helping each other. They spent the next couple of hours going from house to house shoveling all the neighbors sidewalks and driveways.

After the neighborhood was finished and everyone was worn out they all came home to their favorite pepperoni pizza. They had forgotten that that was a part of the deal. They were all starving and scarfed down more pieces of pizza then they had probably ever eaten. Throughout lunch they told of all the places that they had worked. How "The Cox's driveway was waaaaaayyyy bigger than anyone else's driveway!' and Mrs. Lunt say us through the window and waved. She looked really happy to see us!" When lunch was about done I said "Should we all go downstairs and watch a movie?" Their response caught me completely off guard. "Mom, can we drive around and see if there are any other people who may need our help?" I literally felt my heart swell. I had no idea when I was shooing my kids out the door to burn off some energy that they would experience such a life lesson.

We spent much of the rest of the afternoon driving around looking for people to help move their snow. People were so kind and grateful for the help. It really was a significant amount of snow, even for our area, and the additional shovels were very much appreciated.

This event was several years ago and even to this day the kids will still randomly say "Remember that year we shoveled EVERYONE'S snow?" and the crazy thing is they always say it with a smile. I tell you this story not to make our family look good or to say that we are some shining example of charity. We are not! We have much to improve on. This started out as a desperate attempt to get a group of siblings out of the house on a snow day. I could have never created the result that occurred. I am so grateful for that day and the bond that my kids developed, all from a bunch of cold wet snow.

You never know when an opportunity to strengthen your relationships will occur. Be open to anything when it comes to spending time with your family. Family really is everything. It's not just my blogs name, it is the truth. Now go tell your family you love them. ♥︎♥︎♥︎