I quickly learned that being a parent required that I be very creative, that I learn the art of compromise and that I needed to develop my ability to think outside the box.
Children do not see the world as we do and they do not process situations the same.
The creativity comes into play each day when I am trying to get the children to do what they should be doing.
The youngest two like to be superheros and dress up, so I use that theme when I want them to clean up or do one of their chores.
We create a scenario that involves the superhero saving the day along with making the world a better place to live.
The art of compromise is just that, an art and you must learn to pick your battles.
Some things just aren't worth getting upset about, however, some definitely are.
I try to ask myself, is this going to matter in about 5 minutes after I get over the initial shock of what my child just did? It is never good when someone says, "Oh, you are his mother!" There have been moments when I wanted to deny it.
I imagine you would like examples, so here are a few.
My 5 year old buried his brand new shoes in the sand pile at my sister's.
I know no big deal except 4 of us adults did look for hours without any luck in finding them.
That one I let go with only a stern talking to and my brother-in-law used the skid loader to find them the next day.
I thought I controlled myself quite well considering this was the third time he lost a pair of shoes at my sister's.
The same son stripped off his clothes and went running outside and down the street to the local park where his older siblings and their friends were.
To make matters worse, he decided to pretend he was a dog and he went the bathroom there in the park in front of everyone.
I happen to be running errands at the time and my poor daughter had to deal with this one.
Believe me when I say he was punished appropriately.
Of course, it would have been funny if it had been anyone else's son.
Having four children in the house and being anal about the house always looking nice is a constant inner battle that I struggle with.
This is where thinking outside of the box has helped me.
One Saturday when all of the children got up for the day, I announced that they were no longer children living in our family home but that they were staff at the Tipton Hotel.
If your children watch "Zac & Cody" on the Disney Channel, you know what I am talking about.
I explained to them that there would be no pay for them at the end of the weekend unless they preformed their jobs well.
Each one of them was given a specific position in the hotel.
My daughter was the maid, my oldest son the chef, the middle son the custodian, and the youngest son was the bus boy.
I of course was the hotel manager.
I had typed up requirements of the job for each one of them and they had to follow those for the weekend.
By Sunday night, my house was cleaner that it had been in awhile, we had all enjoyed some great meals, and they actually felt good about what they had accomplished.
While it would have been nice if someone in my family or one of my friends would have warned me before I had my children, I am not sure I would have listened back then.
After all, I was 27, I knew everything and of course my children were never going to act that way or not listen to me.
Boy was I clueless!
Children do not see the world as we do and they do not process situations the same.
The creativity comes into play each day when I am trying to get the children to do what they should be doing.
The youngest two like to be superheros and dress up, so I use that theme when I want them to clean up or do one of their chores.
We create a scenario that involves the superhero saving the day along with making the world a better place to live.
The art of compromise is just that, an art and you must learn to pick your battles.
Some things just aren't worth getting upset about, however, some definitely are.
I try to ask myself, is this going to matter in about 5 minutes after I get over the initial shock of what my child just did? It is never good when someone says, "Oh, you are his mother!" There have been moments when I wanted to deny it.
I imagine you would like examples, so here are a few.
My 5 year old buried his brand new shoes in the sand pile at my sister's.
I know no big deal except 4 of us adults did look for hours without any luck in finding them.
That one I let go with only a stern talking to and my brother-in-law used the skid loader to find them the next day.
I thought I controlled myself quite well considering this was the third time he lost a pair of shoes at my sister's.
The same son stripped off his clothes and went running outside and down the street to the local park where his older siblings and their friends were.
To make matters worse, he decided to pretend he was a dog and he went the bathroom there in the park in front of everyone.
I happen to be running errands at the time and my poor daughter had to deal with this one.
Believe me when I say he was punished appropriately.
Of course, it would have been funny if it had been anyone else's son.
Having four children in the house and being anal about the house always looking nice is a constant inner battle that I struggle with.
This is where thinking outside of the box has helped me.
One Saturday when all of the children got up for the day, I announced that they were no longer children living in our family home but that they were staff at the Tipton Hotel.
If your children watch "Zac & Cody" on the Disney Channel, you know what I am talking about.
I explained to them that there would be no pay for them at the end of the weekend unless they preformed their jobs well.
Each one of them was given a specific position in the hotel.
My daughter was the maid, my oldest son the chef, the middle son the custodian, and the youngest son was the bus boy.
I of course was the hotel manager.
I had typed up requirements of the job for each one of them and they had to follow those for the weekend.
By Sunday night, my house was cleaner that it had been in awhile, we had all enjoyed some great meals, and they actually felt good about what they had accomplished.
While it would have been nice if someone in my family or one of my friends would have warned me before I had my children, I am not sure I would have listened back then.
After all, I was 27, I knew everything and of course my children were never going to act that way or not listen to me.
Boy was I clueless!