Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My Accomplishment for Today

My big accomplishment for today was taking down our Christmas tree. It's so nice to have the living room back to normal. The birds are happy to be back in their normal spot. Maiden got her room REALLY clean. She had some great motivation since she'd been invited to stay the night with her best friend who is on school break. I told her she couldn't go unless she got that room cleaned. Yes, I'm a card carrying member of M.O.M.S. (Mean Ole Mama Society).

We traded out one child for another. Biggun, my best friend's son has come over to stay the night. The boys didn't think it was fair for Maiden to get to go have a sleepover if they didn't get to do something special too. Right now it's just me and da boys hanging out.

We've been working at putting into effect some of the principles we learned in this book, Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman. While we may not agree with everything he says, there are still lots of things we can learn from him. The main thing I've been focusing on is, "B doesn't happen until A does first".

In other words, say my kids are throwing a fit because I told them to take a break from their video games to do some things for me. Then a bit later, they want their friend to come over for a play date. My answer is going to be, "No, not until I see an improvement in those attitudes and a willingness to help out around the house." The situation above where I wouldn't let Maiden go to her friend's house unless her room was clean is another perfect example. It's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. I have to remind myself, so are my children.

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