The Life and Times of Louis & Amber - Birthday Card

Children need to learn how to work. At least that's what Frank & Maggie told me for the first 18 years of my life. Looking back, I see the wisdom, not only because it teaches children talents that will help them be successful later in life, but because then that means less work for you as the parent. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why Tony and I learned to mow the lawn at such an early age. I remember that as children we were always excited when the remote control was lost, because one of us got the job of being the designated remote control, hence allowing us to watch television as well (this is quite a treat for the typical home schooler). Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't always an accident that it kept getting lost.

Now that I've learned the value of teaching small humans to do my menial tasks, I agree that the children here at The Pines should also develop a strong work ethic. So it should come as no surprise that the children here do have daily chores, things like cleaning up rubbish, working in the garden, picking up doggy poo, etc... On top of that, when we are working on a specific project we frequently call upon them as a source of quick labor. I think it was Confucious who say "Many hands make light work". Recently I was pulling up bricks from an old, unused walkway to be re-used as border for a splash park we made for the small children. I needed help transporting the bricks from the walkway to the aforementioned splash park. And for those of you reading this and not just looking at the pictures, I'm sure you've guessed that some of the children were assigned to this special job.

My birthday is September 3rd. You may be asking yourself "What does that have to do with anything?" Well, as it turns out, birthdays are a big thing around here. So big that the children decided to make birthday cards for me. This was the same day I asked them to move those bricks. My favorite card came from two lovely young children, Rafiloe & Lehlohonolo. They are reasonable young people and wanted no wasted effort. Please see the pictures below for the birthday card I received. Obviously with this day being my birthday, it still did not exempt me from policing those who would attempt to shirk their duties, nor would I be free from acknowledging those who so diligently carried out the assigned task.



This is the front of the Birthday Card. As you can see it is nicely, yet efficiently, decorated with the cupcake/candle combo sticker. Obviously sending the message of "I wish you to have a happy and healthy birthday, with many more to come" (Click on the card to read)








This is the back of the birthday card. All business. It's kind of like the south african mullet seen in the post below, only in reverse. The back page - all business. The front page - party. And we're happy to see this kind of efficiency from the children. (Click on the card to read)