Work is Good

 

The other day Josh's dad had left a basket of clean clothes in Josh's room for him to fold and put away later.  When Josh woke up, he saw the basket and was very, very, very motivated to complete that chore.  He said, "Wanna put the clothes away" over and over again.  Unfortunately, the bus was coming in 20 minutes so we did not have time to do anything other than to get dressed, brush teeth and eat some quick breakfast before he headed to school.  Still, Josh is not Mr. "aware of the time" and he was extremely perseverating on getting this task done.  I had almost gotten him to the kitchen when he slipped past me back to his room where he dumped the basket of clothes onto his bed to start working on them. I had to fight him pretty hard to keep him from folding all his clothes and putting them away right then and there.  Ok, yes, I had to promise to include a cookie with his breakfast but I was finally able to redirect.

So how many of you parents out there have to fight your young adults to NOT do their chores?  

Josh doesn't always want to do chores but it's a big part of what he is learning to do in his life.  I'm extremely proud of how much Josh has grown in his ability to do work.  As a part of his post-secondary education, Josh has been volunteering at Molly Stones (a little boutique grocery store in town), Ace Hardware and the Veteran's Administration.  At those places, he puts items on shelves, he breaks down boxes, he wipes tables and he makes coffee for people.  I never tire of hearing about the new skills that he is gaining with the help of his dedicated team of vocational education aides and teachers.  

It's not an easy thing to figure out how to help a kid like Josh to learn a new task.  One teacher make a whole binder full of photos breaking down each part of the process of making coffee into really simple steps which Josh can understand and practice again and again.  Apparently, on Wednesday mornings, Josh walks around campus taking drink orders from various staff members, making those drinks and then delivering them.  He charges $2 for each beverage.  He carries around a clipboard where people attach their money. This is incredible to me.  

With help and repetition, Josh is learning how to work.  He is contributing to his various communities in his own Joshy sort of ways.  I am struck by what a tremendous gift it is to be able to work.  Without it, Josh is relegated to a life of just being entertained or being bored.  How easy it is to think that Josh is someone who just needs to be taken care of.  How tempting it is to allow Josh to live a life where he doesn't have to do anything to contribute.  But Josh is being given the gift of being able to work, albeit in simple, modified ways. 

Working, contributing and producing are part of what makes human life meaningful and happy.  The biblical picture of the Garden of Eden had work in it; good, productive work. Genesis 2:15 states that "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." It was only after the fall in the story of Genesis that things like inequality, greed, competition, poverty, futility, and forced labor came about. 

In our society, work is too often associated with our worth, our identity and the security of making money. Josh is free from those things.  Josh is never going to be a biomedical engineer or a clinical therapist but he is going to help keep places clean, running and organized.  He likes completing tasks. He brings caffeine into people's lives.  That's pretty good.  I'm so grateful for all of the people who have worked so hard to help to bring independent living skills and vocational education into my son's life.