Old Order Amish, Best Order English?

A couple of years ago I spent a few days with an Old Order Amish family. It was early May and the nine-year-old daughter of a friend was excitedly telling me how she longed for school to be over.

She loved working with her Mammi (her grandmother) who lives within walking distance of her home.

Hmmmm. Her great plan for summer break was going to Mammi's house to work. Okay, I've been around long enough to know this is not the average hope of a child's summer break.

She'd helped her Mammi a few hours each week during the summer in previous years, but finally she was old enough to work some each day and have a set job in the process of baking the pies, a set job where she was proud to have earned her way to that position.

Whether Englischer or Amish, rich or poor, the wisdom of not waiting until a child loses his or her wonder and desire—not waiting until he or she is old enough to work at the pace of an adult—is wise. To build on the natural, inner desire of a child to be helpful and allow a child to work at his or her pace while they are learning and contributing and feeling good about themselves—I'll tell you, I wish my lifestyle was more conducive to that type of child rearing.

I think my takeaway from that incident wasn't the newness of the idea, but the realization that the effort is worth it for the next generation. So, for any of us moms that are tempted to shoo children out from under foot so they can get bored and then need to be entertained, and all the while are losing their desire to be helpful to the family, maybe the Old Order is the Best Order to aim for :-)