At a time when I was a young, stay-at-home mother of four children, I had a small, home-based desktop publishing business producing flyers and mailers. There were times when my young children had to accompany me to visit clients. This became a natural way to instill a work ethic in my children because they had to learn how to partner with me so that I could spend time with the client without the children being a distraction. Sitting in a lobby or office for sometimes an hour is a difficult thing for a child to do without squirming, poking on each other or getting up to play with the water fountain. But it also provided a means to train them in the discipline of self-control, manners and teamwork. They also had to learn to politely greet adults in a professional manner and learn to conduct themselves appropriately in adult situations.

The children were as young as three years old when this began, so it is very possible to begin this type of training at a very early age.

I taught the children that we were co-workers in our family business and that sitting quietly was a “job.” The better they were at their “job,” the better I could be at MY job, and the more they would share in the profits. A job well done  — even if only a small task — deserved to be compensated. I paid them for their time and cooperative behavior during these client visits, and in this way, they learned how business works and learned to be co-laborers in our home business endeavors. Even though there was no physical labor involved, there still was a sacrifice of time and effort (and boredom) involved, and the children learned that “work” could be rewarding.

After a few times of sharing in the profits and seeing their piggy banks increase, the children began to look forward to going to “work” and eagerly anticipated an occasion for the clients to require a personal visit — even if it meant sitting quietly for thirty minutes. It became fun for me because I did not have to fear being embarrassed or face an unnecessary interruption, and I truly enjoyed having the children for companionship — plus their good behavior impressed the clients! I enjoyed watching them learn about money, plan their purchases and calculate how many more trips to Customer Smith’s it would take to have enough money for a new wagon. They also learned to do a few simple things like stapling papers, stuffing envelopes and adhering stamps whenever I had a large project going.

A wise saying that is true is that “the greatest form of play to a child is being able to work with a parent.” Keep your children in mind whenever you have work to do — whether household chores, grocery shopping, changing oil in the car or running a home business. This teaches the children how to develop a work ethic. Not only will you have dependable helpers, you’ll have happy ones who enjoy spending this kind of time with you.

Include your children in your work and give them small and appropriate tasks to accomplish under your supervision — and plenty of praise, respect and reward. You will be surprised, in later years, to see how these small efforts are investments toward developing your child’s work ethic and professional character.

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