An acquaintance on Facebook posted a status update about something he did with his son today. This single dad created two treasure maps for his son. The red one was easy, simple to follow, and quick to complete. The blue one was difficult, more complicated to decipher, and took time to finish. The red treasure consisted of a ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise mess while the blue treasure was soft, chunky, chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk. His lesson? Most of the easy and exciting paths in life lead to junky rewards, while the ones that are more difficult lead to yummy rewards!
Sometimes people make me feel like a crappy parent, but in the best way possible. I feel challenged to actually TEACH my daughter something. Most days, my loftiest goal consists of nothing more than trying not to yell so much. Granted, she's only three, but I can't help but feel the gauntlet has been thrown and it's time to impart some life lessons and to make the most of the time I spend with her. My time with my kids needs to be spent focusing on THEM, not urging them to go play while I fart around on the internet. (Yeah, I know that's what I'm doing right now, but they're asleep...)
The problem with all this good parenting mojo is that it comes to a screeching halt in the application phase. The treasure map thing was brilliant, in fact, this guy needs to write a book. I fully intend to steal that one, but come up with something fun, memorable, with a moral? That's where I draw a blank. I'd rather teach with rewards instead of punishments when possible, it's easier on both of us.
Until then,
AC 'n' Rory's Mom
Have you taught your kids lessons like this? How? Any ideas I can plagiarize like a delinquent high school student??
No comments:
Post a Comment