W.O.R.K.

Wonderful Opportunities for Raising Responsible Kids

By: Debby Bowen

Narrated by: Lucy Bradford

With 10 children, Debbie Bowen quickly learned the advantages of actively involving all the kids in the family's daily routines. Delegation has been a key part of the Bowen family's efforts to maintain an organized, happy home and a key to their success. In this delightful book, she explains the formulas and techniques she's discovered, and she explains that work truly provides wonderful opportunities for raising responsible kids.

Bringing her personal experiences and reminiscences to the book, Debbie has created an enjoyable as well as educational story. She emphasizes the close relationships fostered as the entire family works together cleaning the kitchen, caring for the garden, and completing other duties to beautify the home, though she forthrightly acknowledges that there is no such thing as untroubled waters.

In today's world of television, video games, computers, and automatic dishwashers, families too often drift apart. Debbie Bowen has found that delegating work in and around the house gives a sense of accomplishment and draws her family closer because of times spent together. Her children are responsible, and they all have memories that will last a lifetime. The formulas for success in this excellent book can be applied to families everywhere, including yours!

©2004 Cedar Fort Inc. (P)2020 Cedar Fort Inc.

Great Insight

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This is an excellent parent help book. Not only does it help parents with their kids and teaching them a work ethic that works for your family, she also helps parents understand that they do not have to do everything themselves. I strive to be a parent with kids who are respectful and hard working… but I definitely have struggles with this. While my kids have manners those manners definitely fly out the window when they are home. While I do not have to manage 10 kids I am grateful for Debby’s insight that I can find a work method that works best for my family. Truly and inspirational read.
I recommend to all parents. Even those with who have a handle on their kids you can still gain some insight you might not have considered before.

@cedarfort

Great parenting guide for teaching work!

Teaching my children good work habits is a challenge and life long goal! I want to impart these necessary skills to make sure they’re prepared to live life on their own. While I hope I’ve been somewhat successful, I still feel like there are things I need to learn and want to improve especially where my preteen son is concerned. This audiobook really offered some helpful tips that I’m excited to implement.

The audiobook offers 12 rules that are broken down with great examples from the author’s own life. Raising 10 children on a farm is tough and her no nonsense approach with kind but firm discipline gives me hope that I can get my kids to do more than I previously expected.

The first half shares six Rules of Delegation. They are: 1. Be firm 2. Be fair 3. Be flexible 4. Be patient 5. Be tolerant 6. Be specific. These are great rules I could completely relate to. It’s sometimes hard to remember that I’ve been cleaning for over 35 years and my kids haven’t. Even if my instructions are clear to me, they might not be clear to my child. It’s important to take the time to give the most appropriate job with proper instructions so the child can be successful. I also liked her idea of never redoing your child’s job even if it doesn’t meet up to your standards. It’s so tempting to do this, but it undermines their self esteem and teaches them that if they do a job poorly, mom or dad will do it over for them.

The second section is called the D’s of Delegation. The six D’s are: Decide what jobs can be Delegated, Divide, Deliberate, Demonstrate, Discipline, and Determination. I appreciated this section especially on discipline. Her answer to jobs that aren’t done or jobs done poorly is to assign an extra job. The child quickly learns that if he/she doesn’t want more work, they will do the job and do it to the best of their ability. She cautions not to “punish” with jobs, but to get the kids to buy in to consequences from the get go.

There were so many great ideas that I gleaned from this audiobook. It’s fantastic! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was the audiobook format. While it was easy to listen to, I would have preferred a paper edition or kindle version that I could highlight and quickly refer back to. Whether you’re a seasoned parent or just beginning, there’s some great insights in this book that would be helpful for anyone. Thanks to CedarFort for providing the complimentary audiobook. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review.