Mother necessity is sleeping on the job.  I know it is true!  Being a mother, she surely would have solved a few obvious problems first thing. 

Self folding laundry

Dishes that put themselves away

Dinner that cooks itself

self cleaning floor

self cleaning windows

No it is not purely being lazy...  I just don't have time for all these chores.  I could be quilting!

Yes, my children are well trained but they are also very busy with other things.  No, not sports.  I can see the non-sense of a child being over committed in activities that are just time fillers.  Sure sure, talk to me a sportsmanship... Pthththt.  They can learn that from board games.  Physical fitness?  How about some gardening or home improvement?  Getting along with others?  Can you say, "Large family?"  So please... Sports is the devil's distraction.  Yeah, I know, pretty strong statement.  But really.  I see sports divide families all the time.  Can't be home for dinner, got a game.  Can't be grounded for disrespect, got a game.  Dont' have time to visit grandpa, got a game.  No time to attend Bible study, got a game.

And what do they learn from being on a team?  This group of people come first.  New words from Trash Mouth Tommy.  Atitudes.  Making new friends?  This is by far the biggest argument against sports for me.  Can I go over to Johnny's house? Johnny's mom isn't home, she works full time.  Dad left years ago.  Johnny likes to play video games and watch TV.  Any channel he wants.  His older brother likes to bring his friends over to hang out.  What's that he is drinking?  What's tha he is smoking... "Hey, you want to try some?  Don't be a sissy."  We filter or children's books, media, music, food but we let them hang out with whoever?  The gamble: Maybe they will be a good influnce on Tom and John... More likely, the sin nature being what it is, and a child's (not to mention adult's) desire is to be accepted and approved of...  It's a trap to becoming a man pleaser.  Socially dependent on the interaction with others who will drop you like a rock or run you down in a heart beat.  Why?  Their loyalty lies with number one, that is themselves, not God, not the team, not their family and certainly not your child.  Ok, worse case senario.

I do know some dear people who are very sporty.  This is their family's way of 'being together'  That is their way.  They may very well out live everyone in my family for it...  But, who wants to live into the spoon-feeding years?  I just see the risk as out weighing the benefits.  Now let me include a little hyprocriscy confession... My older two daughters play softball, coed, with their daddy.  Not my choice, its a church team and daddy is with them.  So compromise under the right circumstance, but I still see it as a huge waste of time and distraction from more important things. 

But I digress... My children are busy,  My three oldest are working at VBS this week with their daddy.  (Kind of a team sport thing)  They come home exhausted so I hold my tongue when I really want to say, "dishes, laundry, floors..."  For years I have let them take care of the house work and a good deal of the cooking.  The oldest did the menus and shopping.  Now I'm back in charge of it all.

I'm training the youngers who are 12-1 in years but it is slow.  I can see the blessing here as they are woefully lacking in skills.  Their work ethic is more to the idea of, "can't someone else do it?"  I'm also teaching them how to cook.  This part they enjoy much more than washing dishes and folding laundry.  Ah... summer fun!     

This won't be changing soon either.  My oldest is going to Russia with her daddy on a mission trip.  She is going with a team...ack!  There is that word again.  I hope she plays well with others and is a good sport.  *Snort* lol.  Yeah, yeah, I see it!  They will be gone about two weeks.

DD number two is very gifted with the piano.  This is what the Lord has put in her and it is our job to nurture this gift so we are letting her go to a piano conference .  It is week long.  Then the next week she and her yonger sister, my third oldest are going to a music camp here in town.   This is as far out as I let my children go.  It is hard.   Two and half more weeks of very little of my older children being more than furniture, with the exception of meal time when they will be a little more animated. 

It really is a great thing that the older are too busy to do their normal work as it is forcing me to do the tedious work of training the younger.  I know it is for the best.  I'm feel more productive and I like being on top of everything.  I know where my socks are!  I know where my pots are!  I know how many cans of beans I have! 

I'm a good administrator but I need to be working along side these younger ones.  Maybe today I will do bathroom class!  Toilet cleaning 101!  Oooh fun!  Team work! Team work! Rah rah rah!  *snort*