I'm speaking on behalf of my husband! His family did it right and I've always admired in him, the ability to work hard.
He grew up on a farm in Southeast Idaho and they didn't have much but each other and their land. Every morning, his dad would wake them up before the sun to move pipe. When they got home, there was homemade bread and oatmeal on the table and their grandma there ready to teach them piano lessons before they were off to seminary and school that were a thirty drive away. After school, the six brothers and one sister, got a quick snack and then found their parents for farm chores. They worked together until about six PM, then ate dinner as a family and did their homework on the living room table together. There wasn't time for Nintendo, TV or sleepovers. They were together as a family and that bond is amazing still today. I believe it kept them out of trouble to be so involved with their parents and working on the farm. They didn't have a choice -- if they didn't farm, they didn't eat.
All the kids learned to work for very little money from dad, to buy their own clothes, pay for their own cars and insurance, and make their way through college. Now, the siblings are all hard workers: a doctor, a pharmacist, a high school teacher, one is about to serve a two year mission, one just got back from Hong Kong and is on his way to medical school. My husband has a business degree and has always been able to provide for us.
They sometimes had to work for very little or nothing at all on the farm because that's what fed the family and put a roof over their heads. They even built their family home together (and this was all in the 80's and 90's, not the 1800's!)
My husband learned to work hard to keep our family afloat during difficult financial times where he had to take jobs that were not much fun and nothing to brag about, but he did them!
We now teach our kids to work hard for the things that are important to them. Their lives are so much more fulfilling.
Laura
