Making the Mundane Memorable in the Morning: Chuck Edition

 January 10, 2023

There is no bigger disappointment in the life of a mom than slowly realizing as your child grows that you have absolutely NO CONTROL over this tiny human that you pushed out of your own hoo-hah.

Let's take a look at my five-year-old daughter for example. Affectionately called Charley, Chuck, Charles, Professor X, Chuck-Chuck, Chuckles, Charley-Bear, Bear, and of course, Charlotte. I have never met another person as stubborn, opinionated, or cranky. Oh wait. Yes, I have. She is me. Which makes it all the more frustrating.

Chuck is many things-she is funny, intelligent, beautiful, kind, thoughtful, loving, a great snuggler, organized, a good eater, a "pig with chocolate," a perfect mama to her babies, imaginative, and so much more. She is the blessing I never knew I needed. But, as mentioned earlier, she cannot be controlled. In fact, if we want her to do what we want her to do, she has to be convinced that it was her idea. 

UGH.

When I started the year 2023 on this journey to be more fun, have more fun, make more fun, one thing I had in mind was to see if FUN could be used as a parenting strategy for the moments when my mini-me is feeling extra spicy. Well. Today. It. Worked.

Bear is perfectly capable of getting herself ready in the mornings ALL ON HER OWN. But sometimes, my feisty princess does NOT WANT TO. So today, getting dressed was just too much to ask of her. Instead, she wanted to lay on my bed in her underwear snuggling some stuffed pokemon and whine about how much she hates wearing clothes. In the past, I have handled this in a variety of ways ranging from making stern threats to performing wrestling moves I didn't even know I could do. But today, I tried FUN. 

--------------------------

"Hey, Chuck. Wanna race to get dressed?"

"But you will win."

"I will read my devotional first so you get a head start. How does that sound?"

She tries not to grin...trying hard to stay saucy. But the corners of her mouth creep up and her eyes brighten.

"Ready?" I say, "Go!"

Then, I ignore her. I read my devotional, and start getting dressed myself. Finally I look over at her. She is almost finished...just putting her sweater over her head.

"Hey! Oh no! You are going to win!"

Her head is completely hidden now--shoved in her sweater as her arms look for the holes, but she giggles.

"I can't let you win!" I shout. I pull her sweater back off her head and give my best evil cackle.

She screams with delight, grabs it back from me, and finishes getting dressed shouting, "I win!"

----------------

When I descended the stairs a few minutes later, her coat and shoes were on, she had her backpack packed, and she was filling her water bottle. Cool. It worked. Making the Mundane task of putting on clothes (oh! the horror!) Memorable was a great way to start our morning. 

Minutes later, we headed to the garage and all of a sudden she couldn't climb into the car on her own. Apparently her legs were broken and her arms were tired, and she preferred to stand in the garage, stomp her feet, throw her arms down, and cry that she "CAAAN'T!"

So I grabbed her, shoved her in, and yelled, "BUCKLE UP NOW!"

Close my eyes. Breath Deep.

Ah well. 

You win some.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Update in the Spring of 2023

Image
An Update in Photos: For spring break my family traveled around some towns in and near the MI River. It was our first trip of the summer in our camper, and it felt very good to be back into the swing of things camping-wise. Although I did have a hard time remembering HOW to do "stuff" that we need to know. My favorite thing about the trip was when we walked out to Potosi Point in Potosi, WI to watch the sunset over the Mississippi River.  We have been getting our yard ready for spring! Mostly working on cleaning and organizing; also tossing old and broken toys and tools, etc. Oliver is officially old enough now to help with the dog waste, which is fantastic! So GLAD we had kids! Before the weather turned wonky, we got some hiking in on our break! I had read about the Pelicans returning to Nygren Wetlands, so we went out there with my aunt planning to walk 2.5 miles, but instead, got in a surprising 4 miles! At the end of the loop, the path was so flooded that we could not get...
Read more

Lessons about life, love, and myself from my 35th year; Hello 36!

Image
1.  I had never tried a 100 Grand Bar until this year. I LOVE THEM! Snickers is still at the top of my list, but 100 Grand is making its way up there! 2. I did not know that a beaver was more than just a cute little animal with a big flat tail and buck teeth. Now I know. I am appalled. 3. It is possible to pull a butt muscle while playing Pickleball. Who knew?  4. I love watching youtube videos about the following topics: Pickleball, Chocolate Art ( Pastry chef Amaury Guichon), candy-making (like candy canes or hard candies) and Nate the Hoof Guy.  5. APA ONLY capitalizes the first letter of the first word of an article… MLA does all first letters of the “important words.”  6. You can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed…and it turns out you actually CAN just be whelmed.  7. Costco doesn’t have to be scary… just choose a time when you’re not hungry, tired, or in a rush.  8. Read the reviews on Shein BEFORE you purchase. 9. Audiobooks are nice, b...
Read more

A collection of thoughts after day 1 of year 14:

Image
And so begins year 14. A collection of thoughts. After a day like today, two things are certain: 1. My voice is sore. 2. I was called to teach. Every year I get the back-to-school nerves, and every year by the time 7:46am hits, I feel like I’m back in the saddle again! I just start talking and I think to myself, “man! I’m good!” And also, “oh yeaaaa this feels right.” I can’t believe we did this during a worldwide pandemic. What in the actual heck?! It seems like a bad dream, but, do not doubt it, the effects of the “covid years” are very evident in the social, academic, and mental health of our students. I’m so lucky to be at Willowbrook. The teachers here actually LIKE to be here. They LOVE to teach. And they LIVE to make an impact on these kids. I mean, let’s be honest, it takes a special heart to WANT to teach middle school! But we do. We’re there in the trenches every day battling things like stuck lockers, losing homework, love triangles, identity crisis, fights, vaping, broken f...
Read more