a good hard rain. a quiet house. a cup of coffee. and a breakfast cake pop. things are better.
last night, i decided it's time to practice preventive parenting. what is that? it's pure brilliance. (it's probably what most of you do all the time- thus your intact tank tops.) it's anticipatory. it's planned. it's the art of being one step ahead of the little dictators. it is not reactionary, it's strategic. the goal is to prevent trouble, excessive yelling, and clothing destruction, by being thoughtful about what lies ahead, and then taking action to avoid the inevitable pitfalls.
for example....
the morning routine is. P.A.I.N.F.U.L. dragging the kids out of bed at 6 am, in the dark, and giving them 30 minutes to; eat and dress and brush and get in the car with out; dawdling, LPS playing, dog petting, sister smacking, art project beginning and lego building, is a challenge. because i'm also doing those things, and breakfast making, snack gathering, water bottle filling, pet feeding, and back pack assembling.
so... last night at bedtime, i announced that breakfast would be chocolate cake. those boys were up and at the table at 6:05. brilliant. bribery? or preventive parenting... you be the judge.
then at 6:20 when most children still needed to brush and shoe up, i announced that if we were in the car by 6:30, they could watch a video on the way to school on our recently gifted mini-dvd player. they were in the car at 6:25. again, brilliant.
there was still the car nudging and the arguments over who held the dvd player and which show to watch but for a rainy, trafficy, friday morning commute, it was pretty smooth.
now i have a few hours to prepare for the afternoon and evening. to inhibit problems. to redirect energy. to thwart the crazy. to plan. to get on top of our game.
but i think perhaps it needs to begin now, with the celtic prayer book. by silencing my inner self, centering my heart, letting go of the heavy things, embracing the light, opening my hands, releasing the tightness, and asking for help. i think perhaps it begins with me preventatively living.
last night, i decided it's time to practice preventive parenting. what is that? it's pure brilliance. (it's probably what most of you do all the time- thus your intact tank tops.) it's anticipatory. it's planned. it's the art of being one step ahead of the little dictators. it is not reactionary, it's strategic. the goal is to prevent trouble, excessive yelling, and clothing destruction, by being thoughtful about what lies ahead, and then taking action to avoid the inevitable pitfalls.
for example....
the morning routine is. P.A.I.N.F.U.L. dragging the kids out of bed at 6 am, in the dark, and giving them 30 minutes to; eat and dress and brush and get in the car with out; dawdling, LPS playing, dog petting, sister smacking, art project beginning and lego building, is a challenge. because i'm also doing those things, and breakfast making, snack gathering, water bottle filling, pet feeding, and back pack assembling.
so... last night at bedtime, i announced that breakfast would be chocolate cake. those boys were up and at the table at 6:05. brilliant. bribery? or preventive parenting... you be the judge.
then at 6:20 when most children still needed to brush and shoe up, i announced that if we were in the car by 6:30, they could watch a video on the way to school on our recently gifted mini-dvd player. they were in the car at 6:25. again, brilliant.
there was still the car nudging and the arguments over who held the dvd player and which show to watch but for a rainy, trafficy, friday morning commute, it was pretty smooth.
now i have a few hours to prepare for the afternoon and evening. to inhibit problems. to redirect energy. to thwart the crazy. to plan. to get on top of our game.
but i think perhaps it needs to begin now, with the celtic prayer book. by silencing my inner self, centering my heart, letting go of the heavy things, embracing the light, opening my hands, releasing the tightness, and asking for help. i think perhaps it begins with me preventatively living.
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