This gave me occasion to observe, that when Men are employ’d they are best contented. For on the Days they work’d they were good-natured and cheerful; and with the consciousness of having done a good Days work they spent the Evenings jollily; but on the idle Days they were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with their Pork, the Bread, &c. and in continual ill-humour; which put me in mind of a Sea-Captain, whose Rule it was to keep his Men constantly at Work; and his Mate once told him that they had done every thing, and there was nothing farther to employ them about; O, says he, make them scour the Anchor.

One of the problems with having children in Major Suburbia is that there is not enough “good Days work” to keep them all contented and in good humor. Young adults (ages 12-20) especially need good hard physical labor to keep them healthy and cheerful, but there’s not enough of it to go around. So we invented “exercise.” However, exercise doesn’t accomplish anything except self-improvement. I think Eldest Son, in particular, needs to build a log cabin or plant some corn and tend it. I could probably use the work myself.