Whenever my boys have “free time”, they usually will choose to watch a show on tv, play video games, or some other activity that does not require any thinking whatsoever. Rarely will they head off and do something creative. I have come to notice that in our house we have a strange phenomenon which I like to call CHORE TIME CREATIVITY. This creativity only seems to show up when it is chore time. Here is how it works: The boys rush off determined to work on their chores quickly and get them over with so then they can have free time. Usually they are gone for quite some time. And I start dreaming of the wonderful results! But, when I go to check on the progress, to my shock and surprise, I find that they are not even doing their chores! It makes me so angry - until I notice what they ARE doing. Suddenly, my boys have developed a creative spirit so impressive it could rival Martha Stewarts. I might find them building a replica of the death star using only duct tape and toothpicks. Or video taping a movie complete with an interesting plot, title and cast listings programmed on the screen, and even fade outs! Today, as I went to check on Joseph and Jacob who were supposed to be cleaning their room, Joseph had Jacob tied up in a chair. When I asked what they were doing, they proceeded to tell me about the play they were doing where Jacob was a bad guy and Joseph was “interrogating” him. Looking around at the props, I think this was all taking place in a country that has never heard of the Geneva compact! Sometimes I just don’t know whether to crack up laughing or scream. I might find them suddenly fixing something that has been laying around broken for at least 2 years, or building like they were a master carpenter, you name it! What once might have been an impossible project that they never would even try to tackle is now suddenly their passion. ANYTHING to get out of doing their chores!!!!! Is this a discipline problem? Of course it is. And I am working on that too, but sometimes it is just so much fun to let them be for a while and see what they will come up with.
I can’t help but wonder if this is how Martha Stewart got a lot of her creativity. Did she come up with a lot of her ideas when she was dreaming of what else she could be doing at chore time? I can just picture it now . . . "Martha, how long is it going to take you to pick up the dining room? We have company coming in 1 hour!" "I'm sorry mama, I just was playing with the dinner napkins and figured out how to fold them into a scale model of the leaning tower of Pisa". What mom can yell at that creativity, even if it is ill timed. Who knows, today’s chore time ideas can be tomorrows world changing breakthroughs. So when it comes to creativity, I say: Chore Time – It’s a GOOD THING!