31 Days of Words for the Daily Dash-Day 14

Thursday, October 13, between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., I could have videoed why I love today's words. I drove up to Bolivar High School with my car packed with food for the volleyball team. Moms of the players provide food for the team on away games, and I was taking my turn, along with three other moms. School was still in session when I arrived, and I was the first mom there. That meant I carried all the food I brought into the school by myself. It took four trips to and from the car. All I could think as I was hauling that stuff was how much easier it would be if I had a few more hands. I was hearing, though not experiencing, the following sentence.

Many hands make light work.

Fast forward one hour. The volleyball girls are fed and I'm packed up ready to take everything back to the car. I see some of the cross country boys hanging out nearby, about ready to walk out of the building. I think I've mentioned before that I'm usually not shy, so I called those boys over and asked for a little help. They were more than happy to oblige. Those many hands hauled my stuff to the car in one trip.  The only thing I had to carry was my diet coke. They let me take their picture and gave me permission to blog about them. Thank you again, gentlemen.

I have experienced the joy of many hands making light work many times. I've mentioned here before that I have 6 children. Those 6 plus their dad and me = 16 hands. When we all tackle a project, we do a number on it. Lou and I first discussed the power of our many hands one night after supper many years ago. At that time, we were in the habit of letting the kids leave the table when they had finished their meal, even if everybody wasn't finished. They would take their plate over and place it by the sink, and then head on their merry way. Eventually, everybody would trickle out and Lou and I would be left to finish cleaning. On the night of our revelation, we realized we could be out of the kitchen in less than half the time if they all stayed to help. We introduced our plan at the next meal, announcing that, from here on out, we would all stay seated and visit until everyone was done. Then we'd all clean together and be done with it. This has been one of the best things we have ever done. We've had more time around the table as a family and we clean up after 8 people in no time flat. Many hands make light work. 

Our kids were not as excited about the plan as we were. Their focus was on the work, not the many hands. The focus has shifted now, with a few years and a little more maturity on their side. 

We still take full advantage of this phrase whenever we can. Cause we have many hands. And we all like light work.

Had to show a pic that featured hands, sort of