channeling mary poppins
I am so clever. You knew that, right? What, no?! Well, let me prove my brilliance. In an effort to conquer my ever-present mountain of clean laundry (oh, who are we kidding, “make a small dent in” would be more a appropriate description), I invented a little game. The kids were leery at first, but with a little prompting and promises of raspberry sorbet, they dove right in and played “Laundry Treasure Hunt!” Said in a cheery voice! To try to confuse them into the belief that we! were! having! fun!
La-whatever Hunt consisted of me finding an empty wash basket and having the kids throw in every article of clothing belonging to any of them. It was awesome! Like laundry basketball! Okay, no, it was fairly lame, but the pile got sorted and some got put away. So now we still have wrinkled clothes, but we can find them. Good enough.
And I thought I was so smart! The kids helped out, the work got done(ish), and nobody cried. Not even me!
And then, over the weekend, we had to run an errand far, far, twenty-minutes-in-the-car-far away. We’d been on the road maybe three minutes before the kids started politely discussing how very long this car ride seemed to be, how very boring for all involved, and whether our destination was really worth the effort or if it would be best to turn back now. Or perhaps go to Disneyland instead. They always want to go to Disneyland instead.
As I tried to think of ONE MORE car game (“Let’s All Be Quiet” and “Eat a Snack” are my personal favorites, but they’d already been played), my charming husband jumped in with, “Hey! Who sees a tree? Can anybody find a tree?!” followed by, “Can you find a bridge? A truck? Clouds?” And just like that, my residual Mary Poppins buzz was lost. The kids were all over this new game, enthusiastically challenging each other to find “A bird! A house! A plane!” until the adults were chatting quietly in the front seat and the kids were happily engaged in the back.
My game? Took days to think of and perfect! Or at least to develop the will to implement. His? Spur of the moment and without strategy. Mine: involved bribery. His: they started up playing on their own on the drive home. Mine produced a clean couch. His produced adult conversation. Darn it, even I like his game better.
[technorati tags: parenting, kids, car trip, car game, mary poppins]
La-whatever Hunt consisted of me finding an empty wash basket and having the kids throw in every article of clothing belonging to any of them. It was awesome! Like laundry basketball! Okay, no, it was fairly lame, but the pile got sorted and some got put away. So now we still have wrinkled clothes, but we can find them. Good enough.
And I thought I was so smart! The kids helped out, the work got done(ish), and nobody cried. Not even me!
And then, over the weekend, we had to run an errand far, far, twenty-minutes-in-the-car-far away. We’d been on the road maybe three minutes before the kids started politely discussing how very long this car ride seemed to be, how very boring for all involved, and whether our destination was really worth the effort or if it would be best to turn back now. Or perhaps go to Disneyland instead. They always want to go to Disneyland instead.
As I tried to think of ONE MORE car game (“Let’s All Be Quiet” and “Eat a Snack” are my personal favorites, but they’d already been played), my charming husband jumped in with, “Hey! Who sees a tree? Can anybody find a tree?!” followed by, “Can you find a bridge? A truck? Clouds?” And just like that, my residual Mary Poppins buzz was lost. The kids were all over this new game, enthusiastically challenging each other to find “A bird! A house! A plane!” until the adults were chatting quietly in the front seat and the kids were happily engaged in the back.
My game? Took days to think of and perfect! Or at least to develop the will to implement. His? Spur of the moment and without strategy. Mine: involved bribery. His: they started up playing on their own on the drive home. Mine produced a clean couch. His produced adult conversation. Darn it, even I like his game better.
[technorati tags: parenting, kids, car trip, car game, mary poppins]
Labels: household avoidance, parenting gems
9 Comments:
I can relate! My husband always seems to come up with a better diversion. Mostly I draw a blank. Adult conversation! This is what I'm living for right now. The other night we actually got our son to sleep at a resonable hour and then we giddily watched the episodes of "Arrested Development" (reruns can't believe it was canceled), "The Office" and "CSI" that sat in our PVR queue. Sure, I was nursing a baby. But with the second one I've gained the perspective that it's much easier to veg with a nursing newborn then with a toddler that is bouncing up and down between us and is too aware to watch many things in front of. Isn't it funny that the things we took for granted before kids become almost like a luxury now? I'm glad that you and your husband had a chance to talk. Hope your Sunday evening is relaxing!
Your kids will play games with EACH OTHER??? why is it mine always insist on parental involvement and see the time in the car as "parent is captive audience?"
damnit! they're not supposed to be as good as we are - too annoying when they are! (get your own back - put starch in his underpants ...)
BUT your game got stuff done, though, didn't it - so it WAS better .... not that we're competitive or anything.
What, competitive? Me?
I'll remember that laundry hunt. We're still doing the sorting game around here and it's gettin old.
Ah the universal balance. At least we get the satisfaction of having the answer to where things are and kissing bo-bos!
Hugs,
Holly
Holly's Corner
Here via the Carnival of Family Life. ;o)
I think it's because deep down inside, men are still kids at heart. I really like your game, though, and will try it next time!
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I applaude your effort ;O) Anytime we can get our kids to do something without tears is a moent of triumph, isn't it?
Just this orning my 5 yr old made a tearful decision about HAIR CLIPS.
Thank God for coffee.
Yeah, I put waaaay too much thought into things sometimes. Maybe our husbands think about the good stuff faster because *gasp* they get more adult interaction than we do. AAAAAAARGH! Our mommy brains are turning to mush!!
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