If you are a parent you’re going to related to this.
As you may or may not be aware, I have four children and they are great kids but sincerely they can be quite a handful. I love my kids dearly, but they can take me from 0 to 10 on the anger scale in about 5 mins, cause that’s about how long it takes them to trash a clean house!
We have just started the school holidays and I made it my goal that these holidays we are going to nail keeping the house clean and being respectful to one another. I was determined that I was going to reinstate my rights as the rightful ruler of my house (which have been eroded because of my focus on other things) and that they were going to learn submission if it killed me! I simply was over all the yelling, bitching and fighting…I was going to make a difference and motivate my group to great success – or so went my daydream!
I would like to think that someone could come to our home at any time of the day or night and that I would not be embarassed. I don’t really think it’s an unreasonable request that my children participate in house cleaning, but it certainly does become THE issue in our home and often. So you can imagine how flabbergasted I was when my 7 year old son declared to me on the first day of the holidays, “Mum, I’m on holidays. Don’t ask me to do anything cause this is my holiday and that means I don’t have to do anything you say.”
Well, that was a bit like waving a red flag in front of my face! I proceeded to march him around the house, him screaming at me that he was not going to do anything, and me patiently and quietly suggesting that he will. There was the 15 minutes of standing facing the wall stand off, but eventually he caved because I kept starting the clock again everytime he screamed at me about the injustice of him having to pick up after himself.
Seriously, when you are able to distance yourself from the emotion it is hilarious to watch the way children try to manipulate their parents to get out of doing stuff!
Wow, if only life could be that simple. I’d love to be able to declare to my children, my husband, my clients, the whole world in fact that hey, I’m on holidays and don’t ask me to do ANYTHING!!!
Suffice to say, the war has begun and now more than ever I am determined to come out on top. It’s four against one, but with my brain and brawns I must have some hope of success…don’t I?
As I type this I am in the midst of a war zone with my 12 year old who has declared that she is NEVER doing the dishes again. Well if I let her win that battle then I’m going to be the resident dish scrubber and surely I should have been promoted by now. I’ve told her if that if she doesn’t pull her head in I’m going to record her bad behaviour and put it up on Facebook…she blanched. Mmm…seems like there is still some tricks in the Mummy persuasion tool bag yet.
Love to hear your stories about how you get children to do the things you need them to do.
In this life there will always be people who are sent to help you to grow…some you will love for it, for they are the fertiliser and the water that nourishes the soil and gives you sustenance.
