Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Restoring Peace on the Homefront

Things have been a little tense around here lately. Jillian (5) and Josh (3) have taken to arguing over just about everything. The argument is always the same -- it revolves around being "first" and believe me when I tell you, nearly every event that crops up during the course of a day is up for "discussion."

Who gets to say prayers first.
Who gets to get their hair blow dried first.
Who gets to watch a video first.
Who gets to use the bathroom first.
Who gets to climb into the minivan first.
Who gets a bedtime story read to them first.
You get the idea.

It's been driving me slowly insane.

I tried to keep track of things for a while. You know, I did the whole, "Jilly, you said prayers last night. Tonight it's Josh's turn." But, after a while, I lost track. I'm trying to run a household here and there are a few more pressing issues for me to keep top of mind. So, a few days ago, I took a new approach. I told Jillian that on odd-numbered days, she would get to go first for everything the whole day. Josh would take even-numbered days.

This has worked out perfectly. The arguments have pretty much vanished. Whenever someone starts to whine, I merely point out the date. If you have more than two kids (thankfully, my 10-month-old isn't old enough to argue yet), you could assign a particular day of the week for each child.

It just makes life much more peaceful.
Hey -- listen for a second.
Do you hear that?

What? You don't hear anything?

Exactly.

For more tips that will add peace and simplicity to your life, head on over to Shannon's place!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great idea!! I'll remember it for future when these kiddies grow up. Just be prepared for when they wise up about those 31-day months. If Jillian has the odd-numbered days she gets two in a row -- the 31st, then the 1st of the next month!!! oh no! Horrors!!

btw, thanks for the tip about bloglines. Love it!

-LH

Unknown said...

That is brilliant! I'm dealing with this all the time... they want their food first, they're bath first, everything.

Except brushing their teeth, they want to do that LAST.

mah-meeee said...

so smart! i have to steal that idea from you and use it when my kids start to do that.

very awesome idea!

E. Tyler Rowan said...

What a totally great idea! Now, any suggestions for how I work this one with five kids??? :)

Anonymous said...

So simple, yet so brilliant. We've got that problem too. Times 4.

Thanks for sharing!

Great blog btw.