When I was a kid I spent most of my weekends and summer days working out- side on the farm with my dad. He was always busy, and once I was old enough to help — in the agricultural world, that’s about 8 — I’d follow him around from task to task.
He usually had enough going on that there was always something for me to do, but in those rare occasions when I couldn’t directly help him with his task, he still wouldn’t let me sit idle. He always found me another job.
Usually it was cleaning.
But the thing he did so well — the thing I’m absolutely going to steal from him when my wife and I have kids — is how he presented the command.
I was almost never explicitly told to clean. Instead, it was always, “If you’re looking for something to do, you can clean up the barn” (or workbench, or garage, or basement).
I love that. “If you’re looking for something to do.” The dad version of the guilt trip.
I can’t begin to guess how many times I cleaned the workbench in our machine shed thanks to that line.
