The Job Jar
by Francine Larson
When my four daughters were young, Saturdays became unpleasant and
I faced them with dread. Since I worked outside our home, on Saturday,
each child would have an assigned job to do. All kind of groans and
gripes would surface. “I’m tired of dusting” or “The bathroom tub is the
hardest job of all” to “I have the hardest job.”
My friend, Nancy suggested the “job jar.” It had worked in her
family when she was a child. I listened to her description of the “job
jar” with my ears perked. I was willing to try something different.
Nancy said that on the designated work day, her mother had “jobs”
written on little pieces of paper and folded up so that no one could
peek. Each child would draw the little folded paper out of the jar and
that was that. That was their job. If they wanted to trade with
another, that was OK.
I began to think aboout what my young daughters were experiencing.
Maybe they are tired of just one particular job. Maybe one job is
harder than another. Maybe they think I am not being fair.
Saturday rolled around and I explained to my girls about the “job
jar.” They thought it would be fun, so that’s what we did. I used a
small fish bowl. They each drew a job. Sometimes they would trade with
each other or sometimes they were satisfied with their job that they
drew out of the fish bowl. They got their particular job done faster and
with much more pride.
There was no more bickering or wondering if everything was fair.
It was all up to fate and a little “job jar.” They still remember the
“job jar.”
I would recommend this to parents of young children.
Francine Larson has an AA Degree From St Petersburg College.
Taught Nursery School, Children’s Choir,
Paraprofessional for First Grade.
Co-Author of Character Keys to a Bright Future.
Writes poetry, short stories and articles.
