Under Construction

August 28, 2025

When I was little, I thought “work” was a mysterious place where grown-ups vanished all day and came home from tired. As far as I could tell, it didn’t look like much fun. I certainly didn’t see any connection between the worksheets I did at school and the grown-up world of “real work.”

But that connection is exactly the one we want kids to see. Work—real work—isn’t just what adults do in offices or on job sites. It’s the energy we put into improving something. It’s how we make things more functional, more beautiful, more helpful, more hopeful. Whether you're designing a bridge, wiping a kitchen counter, solving a math problem, or calming a toddler, it all counts. It’s all work.

Of course, not every moment of it is thrilling—although sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s boring, sometimes it’s fascinating. Often it's hard, but what worthwhile projects aren’t? When we help kids see that their efforts matter—that they’re already on the same path they’ll walk as adults—it changes everything. It helps them understand that happiness doesn’t come from avoiding effort, but from knowing your effort made a difference.

So this Labor Day, in addition to honoring the people whose work keeps the world going, let’s also honor the idea of work itself—as a daily invitation to shape the world for the better, which we can all do, no matter our age. And if your kids come home tired from school next week, cheer them on. They’re not just getting through the day. They’re building who they’ll be and what they’ll do someday.

It’s future happiness, under construction.

—Debra Ross, publisher

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