Finish the Job

This activity involves an unusual meal so pick a time to do this when you have time for a longer meal. Set up for the meal the way you normally would. If you serve from the stove or plate everything, it doesn’t matter. For this example, we will assume that the meal is on the table. Start with a pasta that isn’t cooked such as spaghetti or macaroni. Each plate should have a serving of uncooked pasta on it. Place a jar of sauce, or a block of cheese on the table, unheated/unmelted. If there are other items you usually have such as meatballs or parmesan, you can add those to the table in any unfinished state (being careful if you use raw meat). Call the family and proceed as if nothing is unusual. Assuming you don’t often serve uncooked pasta, there will be questions about why the meal is not finished. Try to use an excuse you hear from the children when they don’t do chores or homework such as:  I was tired. I wanted to watch television. I didn’t feel like it. You can also compare it to a time when they “finished” a chore. You can either have a meal already prepped and ready to eat or you can cook the uncooked meal and serve it again.

While you are eating, you can process the activity with these questions:

• What did you think when you first saw the meal?
• Did you think you would have to cook it?
• Did you feel disappointed that the meal wasn’t ready to eat?
• How do you think others feel when you don’t do your chores or whine about them?
• Each family member has a role to play and when they don’t do it, it impacts the family. Do you think if we expressed gratitude for completed chores to each other, we would be more Diligent in getting them done?
• What will you do when you have a task to finish or notice that someone did theirs?