live nike
possibly it is unique to my family and my situation, but it seems that there is a direct correlation to light and loudness.
as darkness (and not coincidentally, bedtime) approaches, the kids behaviour gets in my opinion worse. 9 think the neighbours downstairs would agree with me as well.
in timely response, my voice gets that little bit louder.
you can imagine the vicious cycle (rinse/repeat) that follows.
just an observation.
some of you might be pleased to know that a few months ago i declared to the kids that i was tired of counting. if you saw the size of my jlo (jasper has asked if we are going to have a baby) you would think that i meant calories, but truth of the matter is, i got tired of counting to five or three or whatever odd number that equalled GRACE.
"i want you to come here…I'm going to count to five and i want you to be here by the time i am finished counting…1…2…3…..4….5…."
there are thousands of variations of the counting scheme. but at the end of the day, i was tired of it. i reckoned the beasts of burden should be obeying, finishing, folding, clearing, wiping, tying or at least standing up and making a good fist at getting the task done by the time i make my signature scary wide eyes, head tilt hand gesture shoulder shrug at the end of the sentence.
i'm tired of counting. when i ask you to do something, just…well, you know.
for the most part, since declaring one day that i was tired of counting and it would cease immediately, it pretty much has with no revisits. we've made it up to two a couple of times before i suddenly say outloud (and to the kids) "Oh that's right, i wasn't going to count anymore, i'm tired of counting." and then i just say, "now!" the kids are usually a bit worried at the forgetfulness, but i consider this a form of training as well. do they really think my memory is going to improve over the coming years?
i have stuck firm to my declaration. it has not made them much faster, but it has made me feel better.
it has also made me feel a bit worse. basically, giving kids count time is giving them grace. by cutting out the counting, am i saying i have no grace for them? and if so, is that ok? by the time darkness hits, it's been a long day.
