Last Thursday night, The Engineer asked me, "You remember that the potluck at my office is tomorrow, right?"
Uh oh. He'd mentioned it once, asking me to make soup for it--and I'd promptly forgotten.
The next morning I got myself and the kids ready, but I needed more ingredients for the soup. When I took a moment to consider what time it was and how long it would take to go shopping, make the soup, and drive to Daddy's office, I realized I needed to hurry.
My normal response to being hurried is to rush the kids, snap at them when they don't move fast enough, and generally work myself into a frenzy. Not the best state of mind for a mom (especially a mom who's about to drive somewhere!) This time I took a different tactic.
With a voice full of excitement, I asked the kids, "Who wants to take the fastest trip to Wal-Mart ever?"
Zoodle wasn't overly enthusiastic, but was willing to move quickly. And Chickie immediately got caught up in the thrill of doing something different. She raced to the garage door, rushed into her seat, and encouraged me to hurry. We got to Wal-Mart, and I put them both in the basket, and they had fun while I zoomed it around the parking lot and the store, pushing it faster than usual.
All in all, it was a fun trip--and a fast one. The kids cooperated because I wasn't pushing them; instead I was making our hurried errand into a game.
At what other times could I take a lighthearted attitude and accomplish more than I manage to with my stressed-out attitude? Hopefully the fastest trip to Wal-Mart ever is the start of my fastest parenting improvement ever...we'll see!
4 comments:
What a great way to make the trip fun!
I think that's awesome. I've been really grasping the concept lately that so much of life is about our approach and our reaction. Both of which we control. Guess it also applies to small children.
What a great reminder!! I love when I find ways to take something blah and make it bling!
Good work, Mommy! Don't be too surprised if when your children are adults "the fastest trip to Walmart ever" doesn't get talked about as a fond memory. We are sometimes shocked at the small events which happened when our kids were little that are now fond, oft-repeated memories. :)
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