Responsibility

I received a phone call from my 12 year old brother a few weekends ago. He was all excited and eager to tell me what his big idea/project was for this spring….he was going to raise pigs! Pigs?! Where the heck did he get this hair-brained idea?? He told me that one of his buddies raised two pigs last year and that one of the pigs was big enough that he could show it at the fair. The pig won a blue ribbon award and he was able to sell the pig for $800! BroThursday was stoked! He said he was going to do this and he was going to use the money he earned to buy a camcorder. I still couldn’t believe what he was saying…pigs?! I mean, my parents have a few acres of land but we definitely don’t live on a farm. The biggest pet we have ever had was a Jack Russell Terrier – and that is just a small dog! But, somehow my brother had talked my dad into helping him build a small pen in the furthest corner of the backyard – about a 4-5 minute walk from our house. My dad helped him buy the pigs for about $50 each and got him a few weeks worth of feed. BroThursday was pumped and excited to raise these pigs and earn some money for himself. I get a phone call from my Dad about a week later… “Surprise, surprise. BroThursday has already lost interest in the pigs.” After about a week of getting up at 6:00 am to feed them (apparently he complained about having to carry the 45-pound feed pellet bags from the garage to the pen each morning) he said he was done with the pigs! He didn’t care about the money anymore…this was too much work. Unfortunately for BroThursday, he wasn’t going to get off the hook that easy. He had committed to these pigs and my Dad was going to require him to keep that commitment. He had a decision to make. He could give up the pigs, but if he did, he also had to give up his spare time with his friends. BroThursday complained and tried to argue but eventually caved in. He’s been getting up religiously at 6:00 each morning to feed these pigs (who are gaining 5 pounds a day!). From what I understand there has been a lot of grumbling and complaining, but he gets it done. I am sure when it comes time to show these pigs at the fair he won’t be grumbling when he gets a nice payday off these things.

Another funny story. My 13-year old brother (let’s call him BroThursday2 – not to be confused with the BroThursday above) was so excited because he made the “A” basketball team at school. Our small town is centered around sports so this was a huge deal for him. He went to every practice, gave 110%, and continued to work on his skills at home. A few months ago a bunch of his buddies had invited him to go snowboarding with them. BroThursday2’s coach had gotten wind of this and told him not to go. However, BroThursday2, a typical 13-year old boy, decided to go anyways. He was on the slope, fell the wrong way, and broke his left collarbone. His coach was livid that he had gone against the coach’s advice. DadThursday sat down with BroThursday2 and explained to him that when you make a commitment to a team, an organization or any other group, that it is your duty and responsibility to uphold that commitment. He told BroThursday2 that he was still going to be required to show up at every single practice and every single game and sit on the bench to watch the rest of his teammates. He needed to prove to his teammates and his coach that he was still dedicated to the group he had worked so hard to join. My brother religiously went to every practice and every game.

My reason for sharing these stories is this. I am sure we all have stories similar to the ones above. I know I could go on and on (well there are ten of us so we probably have more stories than most families!) :) But as I was listening to my brothers complain and groan about how mean and strict my parents are, I realized how grateful I am to my parents that they taught us a huge level of responsibility and commitment at a young age. I was the worst. I complained and thought my parents were the meanest, strictest parents on the block. However, in hindsight, I now understand the reasoning for their behaviors and appreciate the sense of personal pride and responsibility it taught me. In conclusion, my parents were hard on us at times, and still are. However, I appreciate that level of dedication they taught us and hope that I can show that level of commitment to the loved ones around me.