Good Borders Make Good Families***

For those who don't know, I was once an English teacher. I taught for one reason: the Aha! Moment. That moment when little brain synapses finally connect and the student, whether s/he is 12 or 28, understands.

This week, my boys have been on winter break, and the hubs has been kicking it military style, which basically means I have held down the fort with ALL. THREE. BOYS. AT. HOME. And any mother of boys knows that Downtime = Bad Attitudes and Broken Stuff; so we've been busy in order to keep everyone sane and happy. One of the many projects we are working on this week is repairing the red brick borders that the boys have knocked over...the ones I spent days measuring, placing, and shaping so that the backyard looked more like a backyard and less like a layer of underbrush.

We often tell our boys, “Have fun. Don't be stupid. Be boys. If you break something, fix it.” And that is exactly what we are doing.

While Bubby (formerly known as Boo) raked the front yard and Little Man picked up trash, Middle Man and I fixed the border. I dug the trench, we worked together to place the stones, and he packed the dirt around them. About half-way through, an insightful conversation transpired:

MM: This is hard work, but it's kinda fun to do it together.

Me: Yep.

MM: It's going really fast. We're already half-way done.

Me: Yep. Hard work is always easier if we work together. I wouldn't necessarily call it fun, but it has to be done, so here we are.

MM: It looks really good.

Me: And that's the best part of hard work...being able to see how it looks when you are done.

MM: I like it.

AHA!

And I didn't even need a lesson plan, people. In one hour, this scrawny little 7-year-old learned a valuable lesson in teamwork and hard work. AND HE LIKED IT! I imagine every time he sees that border, he'll stand a little taller and walk a little prouder because HE was a part of it.

What about you and your kids? What's the best Aha! Moment you've shared together?

***In case you didn't catch the reference, here.