Working Boys

There is a rule in our house that if you are mean to your brother or talk back you get put on weeding the garden duty. The boys like to help in the garden just fine, as long as they get to pick when they do it, and can leave to play when they feel like it. Being a form of punishment has proven to be better than any time-out or taking away TV or toys. Big brother said one day, “having to weed the garden when we fight is the worst. I am outside just looking at my trampoline and swing and I just want to go play.” 

Even though little brother is only three, he knows how to pull weeds and can help. That’s when the boys get along again because they are working together to get their work done as fast as possible so that they can go play. They will try their hardest not to fight or argue with each other for days afterwards. My husband has added push mow the yard to the list of punishments if big brother acts up. He’s tall for seven and almost as big as me, so he’s big enough for that job. He hasn’t had to do it yet but just the idea of it has made him remember his manners. I haven’t had any help in the garden for almost two weeks so that means the boys have been doing pretty good in terms of sibling squabbles. 

This weekend I treated them to the fair for rides since they were so good during the week. I know it’s got to be hard for big brother to deal with his tag along brother, but he’s been great; reading to him in the truck when we are driving, helping him carry his toys at the beach and even giving him a hand swimming at their auntie’s pool. I didn’t tell the boys that we would go to the fair because we all know how that is. They ask every five minutes for a whole week or longer. When I pulled in their eyes lit up when they saw the rides. I had big brother’s hand and little brother caught a ride on my husband’s shoulders. Little brother got sad a few times because he wanted to go on rides big brother was tall enough for, but he was too small. We used up all our tickets and I was kind of expecting them to protest when it was time to go. But they didn’t, they just grabbed our hands and walked out with us. No whining, no fighting, crying or pouting. When we got home I told the kids I was very proud of them for being so good and I appreciated them being on their best behavior. Big Brother’s response was, “well mom we were getting a little hot at the fair and I was thinking how not fun it would be to get home and have to do work for not listening.” Little brother gave a “yeah me too” from behind him. They went off to their rooms to play and relax after a busy day. We weren’t home very long before the boys got picked up to go do work at their totas. Big brother got hired to help out over there. Of course little brother wanted to volunteer in any activity that his brother is doing. So off they went. When they returned home they each had their own money that they earned working. So even though they didn’t have to do chores because they were good, they still ended up being working boys.