Teaching and Learning Lessons

As a parent, one of our biggest and often toughest jobs is teaching our kiddos the lessons they need to lead a successful, happy and productive life.  It would all be so much “easier” and “peaceful” if we could just take the hands-off approach and give in to every whim, want and fit.  But that wouldn’t be parenting.  That would simply be existing.  Sometimes I’m tempted to exist because I’ve taught the same lessons over and over with each child.  

Lately I’ve had a morning issue with one of my younger kiddos who’s learning (or needing to learn) some time management skills.  Every morning he drags behind in the routine and often forgets to put things into his backpack or to brush his teeth.  This means I’m constantly reminding and rushing him.  Often times all the other kids will be in the car and he’ll still have no shoes on, no backpack ready and his teeth are unbrushed.  It makes me want to pull my hair!  I’m trying different ideas to keep him on task, but so far none have worked.  I’m getting ready to make him a check list that he can carry with him in the mornings.  

This morning when everyone was in the car and I had to come back into the house to move him along, I handed him his backpack and he started complaining that he was cold and needed a sweatshirt and was thirsty and needed water.  I decided to teach a lesson about being uncomfortable because of your own actions.  I told him that he’d just have to get a drink at school and that he’d have to feel a little cold today because he didn’t get his uniform together in a timely manner and that every time he feels cold today that he will have a chance to remember that if he had gotten things together on time that he’d be warm.  

Harsh?  Maybe!  But I’m betting he’ll think about it.  And for all of you who are thinking what a mean M.O.M. I am……we live in San Diego for goodness sake!  It’s not like he’s in Pittsburgh fighting snow in a tee shirt!  

Have a great day~

This entry was posted on March 16, 2009 at 12:27 pm and is filed under attitude, children, family life, frustrating, ideas, kids, lessons, mom, parenting, sharing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.