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Work Ethic – Where Does It Come From When my granddaughter Emi was around 10 she wanted a hamster. I offered to get her a hamster and a neighbor offered a cage her were no longer using. I always considered the hamster thing something that went along with raising . Just another milestone and learning experience. Her mother was not crazy about the idea of a hamster and automatically said no. My in law came up with a gentler way of saying no. He told Emi that she could have a hamster but she would have to earn / save the money for it. With allowance and birthday money etc. that would take some time. Granddaughter surprised everyone and came up with the money for the hamster and supplies within a week. She immediately asked everyone in the family if there were any extra chores we would pay her to do. She and a friend set up a lemonade stand. She went around the neighborhood soliciting chores. Of course just about everyone found something for her to do and gave her a couple of dollars. One neighbor had her wash his car. Someone had her bath their dog. She weeded flower beds. Unfortunately we had to veto the best one. She figured out how she could buy inexpensive candy at the 99 Cent store and resell it at school for a profit. She did all this with so much energy, focus and enthusiasm her father asked her why she was “pimping herself out”. She answered that she was just doing what he said. After all he said she had to earn the money for the hamster. Somehow she figured this all out on her own. She was way too young to have had the concept of work ethic explained to her. I have always wondered how much of this just came naturally or if she simply learned by example of the adults around her. Although neither my , in law or myself are particularly inclined to be entrepreneurs we all more or less made work a top priority. My father was great at it but he passed long before Emi was born. Perhaps the trait was developed through having to earn treats and rewards in preschool or via positive reinforcement via behavior modification techniques we used at home. It probably helps that Emi has always been a very competitive individual. No but one pressured her but as soon as she understood the grading system she got upset if she did not get an A in everything. She is in high school now and although less openly competitive she still pushes herself to excel. She was student of the month last month for the entire high school and she is only a freshman. I was somewhat concerned that she does not leave enough time and energy to simply be a but once she got an IPhone and computer of her own that took care of itself. She is beginning to understand the stress of pushing so hard and is considering taking regular college prep classes instead of all advanced placement classes in one or 2 subjects because she has so much homework. I am glad to see she has the traits it takes to succeed but being a typical dotting grandma I keep encouraging her to take time to smell the roses and enjoy life more. Demands and responsibilities come all too soon and stay all too long. Spiritwoman ^i^ |
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She sounds like a very intelligent child. She wanted something and was willing to earn it, instead of complain to her dad about why he wasn't giving her what she wanted. You should be very proud, Spirit.  Elaine Shuel
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Glad she's learned the high price of successful capitalism before she's left school. She'll be more balanced now. lol Judgment Day will be interesting - and all paths lead there.
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4/15/2016 9:47 am |
She sounds like a very intelligent child. She wanted something and was willing to earn it, instead of complain to her dad about why he wasn't giving her what she wanted. You should be very proud, Spirit. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 9:55 am |
We probably did teach her without realizing it. When I took care of her she went to a babysitter's every day becasue I worked. Her dad was in the army and we always called his deployments his work but then there was a while when my husband was terminally ill. My mother was staying with us to keep an eye on things while I worked. My son is disabled and only worked at home, my daughter and son in law, her parents, were mostly gone due to military assignment. At times there was a house full and I was the only one who went to "work" every day. Makes you wonder just what they do process. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 9:57 am |
She is one of those kids who made her own choices from the beginning and never seemed to care if anyone else agreed. She really isn't that outgoing. Kind of quiet but determined and self confident. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 10:04 am |
My first real job was working in a small hobby store after school and on week-ends while I was in the 6th grade in Vacaville, CA. As a military dependent in Japan in 1960 I worked matching keypunch cards with print-outs and checking for errors. This early experience with the massive computers made an impression on me which has lasted a lifetime. After we returned from Japan in 1962 I started my own lawn-care business in the new housing development we lived in in Mobile, Alabama (Roll Tide). My Dad was still an enlisted man in the Air Force and was assigned to a tour at Tripoli, Libya in 1961. We stayed home for his assignment and I mowed and edged yards as much as I could. Mom let me but a fancy new mower at Sears and let me pay it out weekly until it was mine. It didn't take long and there were times I was probably making more money than my Dad! This lasted quite awhile until I caught my foot in a mower drive-chain and had to have extensive surgery. Work always seemed like a natural thing to do. I was never unemployed in my entire life. I was required to move from time to time but I always had a job, before and after my military career. The hardest job I have ever had was probably a stint I did was a two-year contract as an LCOM for the Department of Commerce in 1999-2001. At times, my office controlled more than 4000 workers and complying with the ten zillion government regulations and procedures was trying, to say the least. I loved every minute of it. When it ended, I went back to teaching school part-time until I finally retired and moved to Florida in 2003. So, here I am - thankfully unemployed at last ! Fossil I was never involuntarily unemployed either. I couldn't wait until the day came when I could be. I did retire from my professional career about 8 years ago but was back doing my self employment thing within 2 years. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 10:08 am |
She does have some unique abilities and definitely understood how business works on her own at an early age. She is not inclined to look to business for a career though. She considered engineering for a while but as she gets nearer to having to make the decision on college she is leaning towards following grandma's footsteps with a career in human services. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 10:10 am |
She is good at standing back, evaluating the situation unemotionally, then proceeding in an organized fashion. Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 10:11 am |
Glad she's learned the high price of successful capitalism before she's left school. She'll be more balanced now. lol Spiritwoman ^i^
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4/15/2016 10:13 am |
Thank you. I feel so blessed that I got to have her living with me for most of the first 10 years of her life. She is what kept me going when my husband passed. Too hard to stay in bed depressed when a 2 year old is jumping up and down on you saying "Get up Nonie. It's a sunny day". Spiritwoman ^i^
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