Labor Day

I texted my older brother Shae this morning to remind him to do something fun today that did not involve picking up rocks or watering trees. . . 

Why?  Perhaps because as a youngster growing up in a tiny country town in Arizona I dreaded Labor Day.  My mother seemed to have somehow gotten confused on the actual meaning of this holiday and taken the name literally.  Srsly. . .

Maybe she thought laboring away on Labor Day made us into the kind of people we had potential to become, you know those "building character moments."  Maybe she wanted to just keep us busy so she wouldn't have 6 wild and crazy kids running around the house with no television to entertain them. . . .

 Nevertheless, she did indeed make us labor on Labor Day.  I remember clearing fields of rocks so we could have a rock wall somewhere. . .and believe me there are lots of rocks in Arizona. . .we weeded yards for neighbors, watered countless trees because there is no rain in Arizona and since we lived in the country there were no hoses so it was a 5 gallon bucket and a faucet and lots of hauling. . . 

We complained and tried everything to opt out of this family day of character building. . .but in the end we labored together. . .

And it wasn't so bad, we sang and talked as we hauled rocks and pulled weeds and carried buckets of water.

And we bonded as a family over hard labor and service to our neighbors.  

We picnicked outside and took breaks to do silly things like make up a circus routine on the backyard trampoline or harmonize a new song we'd heard complete with ridiculous actions and silly words . . .

And in the end we'd forget that we were upset at this unfair treatment for a child on vacation and we would just enjoy being together accomplishing something worthwhile.

Although I haven't begun the Labor Day laboring tradition in my own family I'm not completely sure I won't instill it in the future.  It did build character and it taught me to love my family and serve others and think about fun in a whole new way.  Thank you mom for those lessons that seemed ridiculous and completely unfair in the moment. . . and turned out to be something that shaped me into what I am becoming today.

Happy Labor Day 2010!!  Did you know that Labor Day was created to "to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers."  Just a little FYI. . .

Here's pictures of what we did . . .So what did you do today??