This Baby Blues applies to me as well. Though the more unschooling we do the less they differentiate play from work.  My youngest two spent all day helping me pull up carpet, staples, and nails, and take the trim off the walls.  We had fun.  We played.  We enjoyed our work.  Work is a gift from God–it gives us a goal, it keeps us occupied, it helps us develop character, it grows us closer to Him, it gives us the opportunity to serve others and show our love for others.  Work is a blessing and somehow we have trained our kids that work is something to be avoided.  That play is all that is important.

Instead we need to be with our children, be willing that they join in with us on our projects, and be willing to take part in theirs.  We need to work hard and do our best at it without complaining but also knowing when to quit and relax so our children can learn.  We need to gently show them the right way to do something without frustrating them.  We need to think of work as a blessing so we can show our children this blessing from God.

Former teacher turned Christian unschooling mom, artist, geek wife of a work -at-home geek with 3 geeklings. Our lives are full of gaming, reading, writing, baking, and making lots of messes. I blog about our daily life at An Untraditional Home and share my creative endeavors at Elasah.com.