Life Lesson: Get Your Hands Dirty

Mike and I have been reading a great book. Okay, well, I read it aloud while he drives. Those of you that I talk to on a regular basis have probably already heard me talking about it. It's called, "Boys Should Be Boys." You can find out more about it here.

The book has given us a lot to think about and talk about. One idea she writes about is how we have feminized boys. We don't give them the opportunities to get out in nature and get dirty. This is where it's a good thing I have Mike around. He often has to remind me that getting dirty is what our kids need. I had one such reminder yesterday.

It was Christian's turn to empty the bathroom garbages. There were a few things on the floor that didn't quite make it in the garbage can. He came out and told Mike that he wanted gloves. Mike told him that he would be fine, that he could wash his hands after he was done. I later told Mike that maybe we should get a big box of those disposable gloves at Costco for the kids to use when they do garbages. (Christian ended up using his mechanical grabber to get the stuff.)

I thought the gloves were a good idea. I know I should use gloves more often when I do cleaning or other projects. In fact, my not wearing gloves was a bit of an issue when I got my fingerprints done for our adoption. Apparently, my fingerprints are very shallow and hard to print. I had my finger pricked at the doctor's recently and the nurse also commented on my "shallow" fingerprints.

I digress.

So, because I know I should be using gloves, I figured they would be good for the kids. Mike then told me that one of the best lessons he learned from his grandpa was to get his hands dirty. His grandpa taught him to work by taking him with him on jobs and also paying Mike to do jobs for him. Grandpa told him that you can always wash your hands.

Mike went on to say that he wants them to dig in and help people, or help in a crisis and not first worry about getting dirty.

I'm glad he reminded me about this. And, I do want my kids to be like him in that way--to dig in and help people. (I also hope that they will remember to keep their hand sanitizer with them at all times, and use it after such experiences.)