Shannon , the Works For Me Wednesday queen, asked us to come up with some of our parenting ideas this week. And, I don't remember where I read this and the Vikings are still a little young to use it...so, basically, I haven't tried this (yet) but thought I'd pass this along in case someone had two kids around and was in need of a fresh idea to try.
If you're tired of your little raiders arguing over who gets to pick their seat first or gets the last of the apples, try this. Somehow designate one of your kids as the "even" one and one as the "odd" one. (Depending on your kids age and personality, you might obviously want to use other words. The idea is to make it as mom's-brain-is-already-overloaded-with-details friendly as possible.)
In practice, for example, I might say since Flicka was number 1 to be born, she'll be the "odd-day" child and since Pojke was the number 2 baby, he'll be the even-day child.
Then, when they can't decide among themselves, check the calendar! If it is an odd numbered day, the "odd"child gets to go first. If it is an even-numbered day, the "even" child gets to go first. It takes the "pressure" off the parent/caregiver. "Hey, I didn't pick your brother...the CALENDAR says..."
This taking the "pressure" off the parent already worked well during Flicka's potty training and for bedtimes around here by using a kitchen timer. "Hey, *I* didn't say it was time to sit on the pot...the timer said so!"
And, that's my two cents...LOL Drop by Shannon's site today to see what other great parenting ideas everyone has to share!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
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5 comments:
That's exactly how my mom did it with us! Worked really well (until the 3rd child came along, lol!) I remember that we had a hard time with it at first, but eventually we got to the point where we didn't argue or fuss, we just matter-of-factly accepted it. I was "odd", btw.
Oh boy, I know I'm leaving myself wiiiide open with that one!
Great idea! I hadn't heard of that before.
Anita - if ya don't mind me asking, since I haven't used this yet with the Vikings...how old where you when your mom started this?
I was around 6 or 7 years old and my brother was around 5 or 6. We didn't like it at first - we still felt "cheated" when it was the others day, but once we got used to it, it really reduced the hassles. It was like, "oh, it's Steve's turn? Ok." Really cut down on the amount of fighting and bickering. Plus, when we got a little older we learned to negotiate: "It's your day, but if you let me go first, I'll let you go first next time" - that kind of thing.
I have a friend that does this and it works so well. I have three boys, though, so I'm still looking for the answer! :)
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