Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Allowing child to skip chores may have developmental impact
QUESTION: I have to fight
with my 9-year-old daugh
ter to get her to do anything
she doesn’t want to do. It’s
so unpleasant that I’ve about
decided not to take her on.
Why should I try to force her
to work and help around the
house? What’s the downside of
just going with the flow and
letting her off the hook?
DR. DOBSON: It’s typical for
9-year-olds not to want to work,
of course, but they still need to
become acquainted with it. If you
permit a pattern of irresponsibility
to prevail in your child’s formative
years, she may fall behind in her
developmental timetable leading
toward the full responsibilities of
adult living.
As a 10-year-old, she won’t be able
to do anything unpleasant since she
has never been required to stay
with a task until it is completed. She
won’t know how to share with any-
Daddy's simple truths
My daddy never
made a lot of
money but he
made a good living. For him
self and
our fam
ily.
The
good liv
ing came
not in
the form
of dollars
but rath
er in sim
ple truths
Ronda Rich
Dixie Divas
and philosophies that cen
tered our home and direct
ed our paths. Those simple
truths are the guideposts
that continue to map my
daily existence. He’s been
gone for several years now
but not a day passes that
he doesn’t participate in the
running of my life.
With daddy, God came
first. The rest of us fell into
fine somewhere below the
All Mighty.
“Pray about it and let it
go,” he said often. “You don’t
need to keep tellin’ the good
Lord what you need. He’ll
hear you the first time.”
“A man who will he to you,
will steal from you.” That
one was always punctuated
with an all-knowing wink
and firm nod of his head.
That was among the tru
est of the things he pontifi
cated.
“Nothing’s ruder than to
keep someone waitin’. Be on
time. Otherwise, you’re tell
ing others that you’re more
DANIELS
From page 6A
And recent trends are
showing some positive chang
es. Research by a University
of Maryland sociologist
reported in September that
parents, especially dads, are
spending more time with
their children now than in
LETTER
From page 6A
or around $150,000 per acre. I think the
developer should have been more gener
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109 Anderson Ave. Fort Valley, GA 31030
57114
one else because
she’s only
thought about
herself. She’ll
find it hard to
make decisions
or control her
own impulses. A
few years from
now, she will
steamroll into
adolescence and
then adulthood completely unpre
pared for the freedom and obli
gations she will find there. Your
daughter will have had precious
little training for those pressing
responsibilities of maturity.
Obviously, I’ve painted a worst
case scenario with regard to your
daughter. You still have plenty of
opportunity to help her avoid it. I
just hope your desire for harmony
doesn’t lead you to do what will be
harmful to her in later years.
QUESTION: What answer do
important and that ain’t
true. Ain’t no big I’s or little
you’s in God’s eyes. We’re all
the same.” Daddy lived on
West Point time, arriving 10
or 15 minutes early. Me, I’m
never early but I’m seldom
late. Daddy was right about
that. It’s self-centered.
“Your word is your bond.
If you say it, you do it. No
matter what it takes. A per
son is only as good as his
word.”
Sometimes I agree to
something that I wish I
hadn’t. Sometimes keeping
my word costs me money.
But whatever it takes, I
always do it because I had
a parent who instilled in me
the importance of integrity.
Daddy wasn’t well-educat
ed, dropping out of school at
16 to feign for himself. But
he was oh so very wise.
“Solomon was the smart
est of all the Biblical men,”
he opined. “He asked God
for wisdom, not riches. But,
if you have wisdom, every
thing else will fall in place.”
I often think of one of
his other self-written com
mandments and ponder how
much happier folks would be
if they heeded that advice.
“Don’t ever get yourself so
much in debt that you have
to stay a slave to a job you
hate.”
That one I had to test for
myself. Just out of college
and the happy recipient of
credit cards, I dug a hole for
myself, jumped in and cov
ered the grave. It took three
decades past. Time with our
children is a gift of love.
They may not realize it until
years later, but the invest
ment can reap a lifetime of
rewards.
None of us will look back
on our lives and wish we’d
spent more time getting
“things” done, but we will
look back at how well we
invested our fives into our
ous/public spirited since he developed Eagle
Springs at a huge profit. Or even donated
the land to the county for such a worthy facil
ity. Or sold it at a lower price.
- Frank IK Gadbois, Warner
Robins
you have for those who say
being a mother and a housewife
is boring and monotonous?
DOBSON: Some women see the
responsibility that way -- but we
should recognize that most other
occupations are boring, too. How
exciting is the work of a waiter
who serves food to customers every
day - or a medical pathologist who
examines microscopic slides and
bacterial cultures from morning to
night - or a dentist who spends his
lifetime drilling and filling, drilling
and filling - or an attorney who
reads dusty books in a secluded
library - or an author who writes
page after page after page? Few
of us enjoy heart-thumping excite
ment each moment of our profes
sional lives. Even the high-profile
jobs have their boring dimensions.
On a trip to Washington, D.C., a
few years ago, my hotel room was
located next to the room of a famous
cellist who was in the city to give a
Dr. James
Dobson
Focus on the Family
years and the untold agony
of working for an evil, over
bearing tyrant before I was
able to purchase my free
dom. After that, I swore that
I’d followed daddy’s advice
and never sell myself into
bondage again. I haven’t.
Yet, too many haven’t
learned that lesson yet. It
seems not a week goes by
someone will confide how
much she hates her job.
“That’s a simple problem
to fix,” I’ll reply. “This is
a free America. Quit and
find another job. Don’t be
enslaved.”
These are college-educated
people. Some have Master
degrees or even doctorates.
Yet, they’re not as wise as
my daddy with only a ninth
grade education. Wisely, he
knew that controlling our
pocket books also meant
controlling our happiness
and well-being.
Sometimes I write what
I call “refrigerator pieces,”
meaning that a column hits
a note with readers so they
cut it out and stick it on
their refrigerator door. They
want to be reminded of the
column’s simple truth.
I have a feeling that this
column is going to see a lot
of refrigerator doors.
Though he’s gone in body,
daddy’s wisdom lives on.
Ronda Rich is the best
selling author of What
Southern Women Know
(That Every Woman Should)
and The Town That Came
A-Courtin’.
children.
Georgia Family Council
is a non-profit organization
that works to strengthen and
defend the family in Georgia
by equipping marriage advo
cates, shaping laws, prepar
ing the next generation and
influencing culture. For more
information, go to www.geor
giafamily.org, 770-242-0001,
stephen@gafam.org.
OPINION
O Come, All Ye Forgetful
My memories of
decorating the
Christmas tree
as a youngster remain crys
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
our decorations in heavenly
peace, a fire quietly crack
ling in the background. As
we hung our ornaments
with care, we chatted pleas
antly about the niceties of
the season.
“Mom, can you make
the eight-track play ‘Hark,
Harold’s Angels Sing’
again?,” I would enthusi
astically request. Everyone
would chuckle. Me too, even
though I didn’t know what
they were laughing about - a
yKH, pi
Rutter
featuring Miriam Marchetti, soprano, with
harp, organ, strings, winds & percussion
Jane Kimbrel, Director of Music Ministries
i
“My soul doth magnify the Lord and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior. ”
Luke 1: 46-47
Sunday, iD&cemfrw 9th
at 9:CC and 11:00
1002 Carroll Street
987-1852
Nursery provided
classical concert that evening. I
could hear him through the walls
as he practiced hour after hour. He
did not play beautiful symphonic
renditions; he repeated scales and
runs and exercises, over and over
and over. This practice began early
in the morning (believe me!) and
continued until the time of his con
cert. As he strolled on stage that
evening, I’m sure many individuals
in the audience thought, “What a
glamorous life!” Some glamour! I
happen to know that he had spent
the entire day in his lonely hotel
room in the company of his cello.
Musical instruments, as you know,
are terrible conversationalists.
No, I doubt if the job of a home
maker and mother is much more
boring than most other jobs, par
ticularly if the woman refuses to be
isolated from adult contact. But as
far as importance of the assignment
is concerned, no job can compete
with the responsibility of shaping
theme which would become
prevalent in later life.
When we finished, the
tree was breathtaking. My
younger sister would then
have the honors of putting
the angel on top of the spar
kling, beautiful evergreen.
With these jovial memo
ries so vivid, I thought it
would be wonderful if my
own nuclear family could
recreate them as a tradition
of our own - decorating the
Christmas tree in blissful
harmony.
It didn’t really work out
the way I had planned - a
theme which has become
prevalent in my life.
I had the scene set. Early
Sunday evening, soft holi
day music playing in the
background, a small blaze
in the nearby fireplace. We
brought in the Christmas
decorations from the attic.
The problems started when
we opened the boxes holding
the ornaments and lights.
I immediately started try
ing to untangle the lights.
tal-clear,
lo these
many
years.
Some
soft yule
tide tunes
hummed
in the
back
ground as
our fam
ily hung
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007
and molding a new human being.
That statement is not particularly
politically correct in today’s cul
tural environment, but I believe it
to be true.
May I remind full-time mothers
of one more important consider
ation? You will not always carry the
responsibility you now hold. Your
children will be with you for a few
brief years and the obligations you
now shoulder will be nothing more
than dim memories. Epjoy every
moment of these days - even the
difficult times -and indulge your
self in the satisfaction of having
done an essential job right!
Dr. Dobson is founder and chair
man of the board of the nonprofit
organization Focus on the Family,
Colorado Springs, CO 80995 (www.-
family.org). Questions and answers
are excerpted from Solid Answers
and Bringing Up Boys, both pub
lished by Tyndale House.
JAe United
Aldhedwt Qhmk
SxmduaHyQhm
presents
My boys immediately start
ed scavenging through the
ornaments.
Apparently, it is impos
sible for a 5-year-old or 3-
year-old boy to hold a round
ornament without immedi
ately throwing it across the
room. It’s irresistible. And
the shinier it is, the farther
they throw it.
I handed the lights off to
my wife to put a halt to the
budding ornamental base
ball game.
Meanwhile, our daugh
ter had ditched Perry Como
See ROBBINS, page nB
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