Gunnysack Full of Wool

 

As a small boy I remember watching my grandfather shear his sheep. I can still see him grabbing the sheep and setting it down and it four legs stuck straight out so he could shear the head, belly, legs, and then its back. The wool was tied in a bundle and thrown up to someone standing on a wooden frame who would put it into a large gunnysack approximately 8 feet deep.

Sometimes I would be allowed to climb to the top of the frame and jump into the gunnysack and stomp the wool down so more could be put in the bag. Because I was always so small I don’t think I was a very successful stomper. Even though I don’t think my efforts made much difference my grandfather and those helping him let me keep stomping and I felt like an important member of the sheep shearing team.

The point I am trying to reinforce is that we know that our children are an important part of our family team but do they? Perhaps they are still young and full of energy and willing to help yet like me in the gunnysack, they may not be very efficient. Nevertheless, we can help them feel that they are contributing to the family team.

By not helping them understand the importance of their efforts and how much they are appreciated may cause us to miss valuable opportunities to teach important lessons to them. Lessons of work, the value of family time, and learning to contribute to the family team are just a few lessons they can learn.

As parents we should remember that it is our responsibility to help them be happy, helpful, productive, responsible, respectful, and dependable as they move towards independence. This is what the family team is really trying to accomplish.

Stomping the wool was a minor experience for me yet in a small way it contributed to who I am. Do we have gunnysacks that our children can stomp?

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