{Mom Hacks} *Sharing

-

This morning at the kitchen table in a guest house in Terre Du Lac, Missouri, my little ones were arguing about whose turn it was for the Kindle. 

When I realized they weren’t finding resolution, I said, “Ask her if you can have a turn in 2 minutes.” and set my timer for two minutes.

He did, she said yes, and when the timer went off, she passed the Kindle off to him and left the table to do something else. 

One of the uncles in the room said, “That really works, huh?” 

It does. I start using this technique as soon as a little one is old enough to ask for a turn. It takes a little training, but once each side understands that both parties will get equal turns, there is peace about sharing. 

Lvb

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

quicksand

-
Image
  I had my first hand-held video game when I was in grade school. It had two buttons, L and R, that were used to dodge cars and debris in the road. I was insanely jealous when my brother was given a watch that he could play Pac-Man on. I love video games. I love them too much. When Dale and I were first married I used to sit at the computer and play Burger Shop for hours and hours. As a young mom I spent all my free moments playing Solitaire on the desktop. In my darkest depression I played Diner Dash while the days and weeks passed unnoticed. I can remember feeling the shame of wasting so much time staring at a screen. My hand would cramp up from holding the mouse, and instead of taking that as a cue to stop, I’d shake my hand out and keep clicking away. My vices, while they may seem harmless, entrap me nonetheless. Sugar and video games work like quicksand. I dip my toes in and before I know it I’m sick to my stomach and I can’t move my hand. Pornography is an easy dodge. Overind...
Read more

pruning

-
Image
  This may come as a shock to some people, but I’m extremely maternal. The impulse to nurture shows up in the weirdest ways. I sweet-talk my sourdough. I pray over my plants and tell them they are beautiful. I have been doting on my little garden every chance I get. It’s brings me an unreasonable amount of happiness to go out in the cool of the day and watch the sprinkler sway, dousing each little plant with refreshment.  With that in mind, you can see how it would pain me to pluck these beautiful buds off as they are beginning their formation. These are my strawberry plants. They need to spend their energy building a strong root system, rather than blooming and growing strawberries, at least not this year. It’s for their own good, but it still hurts me a little when they are trying so hard. Don’t worry, little darlings... Next year you will bring a bountiful harvest the likes of which you cannot even begin to imagine! “...every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it...
Read more

the doing

-
Image
As I transition over to blogging more regularly, I don’t really know if I’ll get off of Facebook completely or not. I just can’t see that far ahead. Trying to keep my sights on what’s “in the headlights”.  I am so grateful for you, my dearest reader, coming along with me here to the blog. It’s like leaving the coffee shop to come sit in my living room. I’ve always felt more at home here.I really want to be able to respond when you engage in the comments. I understand the hassle of having to sign in, but I don’t know who is saying what. It would be great if you could leave your first name under your comment, it would help me to cross the bridge to you. That way I’ll know who’s sitting on the couch with me. ❤️ This weekend is looking like it’s gonna be dreamy and cold. I plan on drinking hot chocolate and starting a puzzle in between the running and doing. Maybe it will ease some of this anxiety that’s burning in my chest.  Lvb
Read more