Family Matters – How to Raise a Happy Child

 While researching for an upcoming lesson, I ran across this short story I wanted to pass along to you. Take a moment, give it a read and let it settle in your mind, then use the information today.

 How to Raise a Happy Child

 When John and Peter were growing up, other kids felt sorry for them. Their parents always had them doing chores: weeding the garden, running errands, carrying out the trash. When they grew older, they delivered newspapers or mowed lawns. Sometimes other parents shook their heads and remarked that all work and no play made a dull boy.

 But when the boys reached adulthood, they were better off than their childhood playmates who had been less industrious. They earned more money and had more job satisfaction. They had better marriages and closer relationships with their children. They were healthier and lived longer. Most of all, they were happier. Far happier.

 These are the remarkable findings of a 40-year study that began in the 1940s—a study that may help you raise happier children today. Started in an effort to understand juvenile delinquency, the study followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from inner-city Boston, many from impoverished or broken homes. When they were compared at middle age, one fact stood out: regardless of intelligence, family income, ethnic background or amount of education, those who had worked as boys, even at simple household chores, enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not.

  (Source: Nelson’s Complete Book Of Stories, Illustrations, & Quotes by Robert J. Morgan)

Have a powerful day of achievement!