I have been reading The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori.  She is an interesting writer, some of her ideas are very helpful and others just plain silly but one thing I appreciate about her writings are the ways she illuminates the needs of children to be involved in meaningful work.  I find the principle so true in the lives of my 3 and 5 year old boys.  When they have something interesting to do, putting away silverware, cutting up scrap paper, or lining up number cards, they feel happy and fight less, but when they are at loose ends for a meaningful task or when the older people in the family keep pushing them off they turn to screaming and destructive behavior.  How much time we could save ourselves with correcting bad behavior if we would just keep them busy with opportunities and choices for constructive behavior.  And how much stress they would avoid, by having the satisfaction of knowing they are a blessing to the family, not just in their cuteness, but in their developing abilities as well.