I walked into the bathroom to find Maggie perched on the counter, scrubbing the entire mirror down with her toothbrush. She cheerfully chirped, "I cleaned the mirror for ya, Mom!"
Then, noticing my distraught face, she added, "Are ya happy?..... or sad?"
Thinking quickly, I responded, "I'm so happy you're my helper, but let me teach you the right way we clean mirrors, 'cause we only use toothbrushes for our teeth!"
I'm glad that I thought to respond positively to her, since my first reaction (heck my reaction to almost anything) is to freak out a little bit. But she really was trying to help. We had a good time wiping down the mirror with Windex and paper towels. And now she knows the right way to do it.
Phew.
I had a conversation with my mom a few weeks ago, where I called to ask her the traits and abilities that she thought were the most important for mothers to develop. She responded, "Patience. And you just have to train train train." Training your kids to do behave, do new things, and take care of themselves will pay off in the long run. I'm working on it.
What's something you're training your kids to do?
8 comments:
No kids, but I'm working to train Darrell on putting his socks in the laundry basket and his empty cups in the dishwasher.
To not look like pigs coming to the trough at dinner......it's a losing battle.....
I can remember your mom, teaching me rather sadly, how when a child does a job for you, you have to accept that job just as it's given - and you can't sneak in and just re-do it, and you can't criticize. This, after Courtney had cleaned the downstairs bathroom -
And she's right. Lose your patience, and you lose the meat of it. And the whole game, really, because that's the key to the whole thing.
I find a useful skill for kids to learn, one that benefits the entire family, is panhandling. While the kids are still young, cute, and able to induce sympathy in others you might as well make a quick buck.
way to go! I love to hear of victories like this, its inspiring. I'm trying to train my 3 year old to be happy to see others happy (i.e. not taking everything away from his little brother that looks fun). HA! Wish me luck... I think I'm still learning that one.
That was a good one, Cam. And so true. Once they reach the teen years and get all pimply no wants to fork over the cash to them. Then you have to retrain them to flip burgers. It does my old heart good to know that you remember those life lessons that you learned at your mother's knee.
Found your blog through Jordan (Jordan's brother) and Kate. Great stuff you've got going on here.
I'd be happy if I could just get my two boys to go an hour without hurting each other or screaming at each other.
training my kids to work together in a family. dad's in school full-time, working full-time, I'm basically running the house and kids' schedules on my own and I *NEED* their help. Boys are doing lawns, and other things dad used to do and I think it's GOOD.
Also training little ones to not laugh or point and kids that are different than them. This is proving to be a toughy with my 5 yr old. Will keep trying.
that's so cute that she wanted to help and did it with the toothbrush! can I tell you a secret? And it actually involves a grown man. When dh and I got married I was at work one day and got home and opened the door. We had TONSSSS of linoleum in this house and when I opened the door I noticed how shiny it was. When I stepped onto it I slipped on my butt. Why, you ask? Because my new husband thought it would be such a nice surprise to mop my whole floor...with dish soap. THICK. COATING. OF. DISH. SOAP.
did I freak? Inside, yes I did. On the outside I told him how sweet it was for him to do that for me. Then he went to bed and I spent like 5 hrs re-mopping and trying to wipe up the never-ending soapy film, and secretly wondering how in the world he thought dish soap was something that should be used for mopping. The end.
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