Polishing furniture is one of the most intrinsically motivating and rewarding household tasks ever assigned to a child. You can’t beat the mixture of giving a child a cloth, a bottle of Old English polish and a piece of furniture requiring some TLC for the perfect recipe to encourage intrinsic motivation. Just give it a try it, I dare you.
I find it intriguing how a memory of doing a task you were assigned to do as a child comes to life again when you’re in the midst of repeating the task many years later. Perhaps it is the intrinsic motivation of the task that makes it so memorable.
Growing up in our household, I was blessed with the task of polishing furniture. While I love doing it, to this day, it still takes me forever to do it because I put it off for so long the task itself takes twice as long to complete. But there’s something about it that always brings me back to wanting to do it, again and again.
Children who expect rewards for an activity are less likely to engage in the same activity later than those who were intrinsically motivated. – Author unknown
The reward of polishing furniture is being able to see changes happen. A task with a purpose and outcome all tied together provides intrinsic motivation for the person doing the task. From the moment they start out to finish the task, they are transforming the object as well as themselves in the process. They get to see their own hardworking efforts pay off.
I have this beautifully hand carved antique coffee table. Well, I’m pretty sure it is antique, aka more than 100 years old, but that’s only an assumption. It was my grandparent’s table, handed down to my mom when they sold off all of their belongings in an auction in 1970’s. They were born in the 1900’s. I’m pretty safe in guesstimating the piece was made in the 1800’s. I’ve had it in our home for 25 or so years, moving it from spot to spot, with the hope of finding a home for it like it had when I was a child.
After redoing my office, I was delighted to find a perfect spot in the room. I’m so happy to use and bring it back to life once again. The rich old wood in the table is a beautiful and eclectic addition to my updated office.
After all the years of just moving it around, it had collected dust and dried out a bit more than I’d like to admit. I knew I was neglecting the care of it, but I got busy, you know how it is…right? Of course, you do, we all get too busy to do the old-fashioned TLC furniture polishing.
Yesterday, I had enough of seeing how the wood in the table had lost its rich golden tones. It was time to revive it again! So with cloth in hand, I got out the Old English bottle and set out to bring life back into the table again.
As I started to polish, I found myself transported right back to the living room of my childhood. Closing my eyes for a moment, smelling the Old English polish, I could see the room and the spot where I sat to do the task. I remembered all the hours I’d spend on the task. I was so absorbed bringing the table to life, hours and hours would fly by as I spent time making it shine.
I remember the meticulous gusto I put into polishing every little detail to revive it and protect it from drying out. Man, o’, man, finishing the task was so rewarding to me. I had discovered a pleasurable task with a purpose. The results of my efforts always proved to my mom I had really done something special during the day while she was away at work.
She always praised me for the outcome and for being so careful not to break the glass. She’d sit by my side on the couch next to the coffee table, lean in and give me a hug and kiss and smile with me as we admired the beauty of the revived table. Spending time alone learning how to be intrinsically motivated to complete the task, seeing the rewards of my efforts and ending the day with her was reward enough for me as a child. I never needed money to do the task.
Monetary rewards are not a substitute for intrinsic motivation. – W. Edwards Deming
Yep, I love how those memories came rushing back to me again. I’m so thankful I’ve kept the table all these years. Polishing it brings back such warm memories of my mom during my growing up years. I miss her. Having the table here reminds me of those special moments of how she encouraged intrinsic motivation in me by providing me with purposeful and rewarding tasks as a child.
