I am a huge proponent on teaching kids to work and be responsible for the jobs that are assigned to them. This summer I plan to revise my “How To Get Your Children To Do Chores” series that I wrote a few years ago and share it here. I am always on the lookout for tools that help families do chores and track work that has been completed. Recently a friend of mine told me about an online chore chart called My Job Chart.

My Job Chart is a FREE online Chore Chart that teaches kids to work in a fun and productive way. Using an easy and fun online system, My Job Chart inspires kids to do their chores on time. An interactive point system tracks your child’s progress, creating excitement and enthusiasm among kids. And the fully customizable chore chart allows you and your child to decide upon mutually determined rewards, fostering communication and developing responsibility. You even get an email or text message when your kids finish their chores or they earn a reward!

Do yourself a favor and go to My Job Chart, sign up for a free account and give it a try. You have nothing to lose and more responsible children to gain!

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Re-founding Fathers
Johann Christoph Arnold
for Father’s Day 2009

Many problems in our society will be solved when young men are willing to become good fathers. Of course, they can do this only if they have an example to follow. As fathers, we need to be the strongest role models for children, especially for our sons.

I loved my father. He had a tremendous sense of humor, but he also was strict and set boundaries which I didn’t always appreciate at the time. I always knew he loved me. Once when I was eight or nine, I angered him so much that he threatened to punish me.  I looked up at him and, before I knew what I was doing, blurted out, “Papa, I’m really sorry. Do what you have to do-but I know you still love me.” To my astonishment, he leaned down, put his arms around me and said with a tenderness that came from the bottom of his heart: “Christoph, I forgive you.”

Like many fathers today, my father’s work sometimes kept him away from home for long stretches. I remember as a five-year-old, if I refused to obey, all my mother needed to do was to show me his picture. “Your Papa wouldn’t like it,” she’d tell me, and I’d give in.

I felt very secure just being with my father. As a small boy I decided I wanted to be like him when I grew up. This relationship held me through hard times, even after his death. Now I want to pass this on to my children, grandchildren, and to all of you.

Fathers, if you love your wife and if you love your children, give them your time. Spending time together will give your family inner and emotional security. This is much more important than financial security. The Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral writes, “Many things can wait. Children cannot… To them we cannot say ‘tomorrow.’ Their name is today.”

The love we show our children by giving them our time and attention can hold them in good stead even years down the road. As Dostoevsky reminds us in The Brothers Karamazov, “You must know that there is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home…For if a man has only one good memory left in his heart, even that may keep him from evil.”

To be a father is to fulfill a noble vocation. But fatherhood is not for everyone: it is not for cowards or for those who are unsure of themselves. Once we become fathers, we remain fathers until we die. A true father must be a leader-a captain who guides his family’s ship through perilous waters to safe shores, a general who rallies his troops to take on the daily battles.

On the other hand, a father should also model love and compassion. Jesus was not afraid to compare himself to a hen gathering her chicks. He also wept. These qualities belong to true manhood, and a true father will seek to embody them.

Finally, I believe even the best intentioned fathers will not be able to fulfill their task without finding a firm faith in God. When they do, our families and the entire country will be strengthened, because strong families form the backbone of our nation.

[Johann Christoph Arnold is a pastor and author of ten books, which are now available as free e-books at www.plough.com

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A university president and true storyteller, Niece shares an assortment of childhood memories, ranging from the eccentric and humorous (the trendsetting Fern Burdette who only wore a brassiere from the waist up) to the heartwarming and poignant (the reclusive Miss Lizzie who made the best pumpkin bread in the Midwest) to the true bittersweet moments, including Dick Tracy comic lover and wheelchair-bound, Bernie Jones.

“Being friends with Bernie Jones was no different than being friends with any other boy in town. Although Bernie’s world was confined to a wheelchair, it did not stop him from being an intrepid daydreamer, adventurer and hero,” says Niece. “I learned more from Bernie on how to live life than from any other person.”

Raised in a town of 900 residents, Niece learned the true sense of community and trust, a theme that runs throughout his memoir.

“The memories I share in The Side-Yard Superhero are about capturing a time of pure innocence and
simplicity,” says Niece. “I wanted to write a book that appealed to grandparents and grandchildren alike, opening the dialogue about the time when life was simple and people were downright good.”

This is a great feel-good book that will take you back to the good old days and keep you smiling all the way through. It is an easy read filled with quirky characters and colorful descriptions of the people and places in DeGraff.

You can win The Side-Yard Superhero here from The Mom Maven.

Just leave me a comment here telling me about a special childhood friend. PLUS you must click on the orange heart shaped RSS feed button and subscribe to my blog and leave a valid e-mail address or Twitter name so that I can contact the winner. The winner must respond within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

For additional entries, please leave a separate comment for each one of these that you do:

• for 3 extra entries-Place my blog button on your blog and leave me the link you your blog in a comment here
• for 1 extra entry each day-you can twitter about this giveaway and leave the URL of your tweet in a comment
• for 1 entry for each of these that you do-Stumble up with a review, fave on Technorati, fave on MomFaves

Good luck! This giveaway ends on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 10:00pm. US entries only please.

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