Amazing how my kids can come from the same genes but be so different. My youngest child, well, that kid is practically a saint and I fully expect him to be canonized one day. He could be the patron saint of Lego's.
My oldest, hmph, that is another story. He is stubborn and likes to be in charge and is very vocal about his objections to things. No idea where he gets any of THAT from. He is also extremely messy so at any given moment, there is some area in our house that looks like it was bombed by the Toys R Us giraffe and it needs to be cleaned up by him. Typically, when I ask, there is a lot of grumbling before he gets down to work. Usually, like 2 minutes will go by and he will announce that he is done. I will go look and confirm my suspicion that our definitions of done are drastically different and set him to work once more. This process repeats itself usually 4 or 5 times before either the area is clean or I get tired of the whole thing and decide good enough will suffice.
Lately though, there has been a shakeup in this whole routine. As you may or may not recall, Drew did a special needs biking program this summer and learned to ride his bike. Every afternoon on our cul de sac, you can find any number of neighborhood kids riding up and down the street playing games on their bikes. With his new found biking skills, Drew is finally able to join the kiddie peleton and has become practically obsessed with being out there. So, everyday after school he comes home, throws down his backpack, announces that he doesn't need a snack, and heads out to bike.
It only took me a few days of this happening to see how I could use this to my advantage. Now, when he gets home, if I say, "yes, but before you go out you need to clean up your room". He is on it in a flash and with no complaints cleans every last bit of it up without me having to go in there 900 times to tell him he isn't done yet. This is the, by far, the best parenting thing that has happened to me in a while and I have to resist the urge to add a "mwuh, huh, huh, huh" (that would be an evil laugh) after issuing my instructions because I just feel so powerful all of the sudden.
I don't know what I am going to do when winter comes but right now I am enjoying my new found power and my cleaner house.
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