Today was a really great day. One of those days when everyone is in a great mood, and everything seems to be going right. The height of this really great day came when I was cleaning up Bug's room for the night. We've made picking up all his toys part of his bedtime routine. I sat down to pick up his train tracks, singing the clean up song, (I'm sure you all know it...) and there was my 18 month old singing along, picking up his trains.
For a second, I just sat there and soaked up the moment. Then I got to thinking about all the other things the boys do without a fight, things that are stereotypically battlegrounds between parents and kids. Picking up toys, brushing teeth, doing chores. I wondered what we were doing differently that gave us a different reaction than the norm.
Its all about attitude!
We have a song we sing when we pick up toys, or we get baskets and make it a hunt or a race, or playfully toss things into their buckets. We have a song for brushing our teeth. Just about every time I brush my teeth, Bug sits on the bathroom counter with me and brushes along. I've never ever MADE him do it. He WANTS to do it. He enjoys doing it, because he sees it is something that I enjoy.
I LOVE our new house, LOVE IT! And I really do enjoy taking care of it and keeping it clean. I think the boys pick up on that attitude and follow suit. Just yesterday Josh was so excited to go bring the trash bins in from the curb. I didn't ask him to do it, HE asked ME if he could! Today we made a list of one chore to do each day to keep the major housework in check. Tuesday is "clean the bathroom" and guess who was right there with me scrubbing toilets? Josh. Yep.
The point I'm trying to make here is this- When we act as if housework, or any work at all really, is drudgery and put forth the attitude of how much we hate it, how can we expect our kids to act any differently? When we take pride in our work and enjoy taking care of the things we have, we teach them to do the same and to really appreciate everything we are so lucky to have.
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