"What do you say?"
"How do you ask nice?"
"Take your plate to the sink, please"
"Put your coat and shoes away, please"
"Do you need to go pee?"
"Keep your hands to yourself"
"Tell your brother you're sorry"
"That behavior is unacceptable"
The list goes on, and on......... and on of mind numbing phrases that I find myself repeating over and over day after day. I'm not sure who has the stronger urge to roll their eyes after hearing these worn out phrases coming from my mouth.......me or the boys! The human behavior classes in college taught that we learn better with repetition. This theory seems to hold true with my two year old that prematurely learned how to count after constant repetition of what seems to be my favorite warning phrase, 1........2..........3.
I'm not sure how this began, since this warning in particular made my nerves cringe in my pre-kids life. Somehow, this counting seems to make a two year old, otherwise too busy to follow directions, jump into immediate action! (Well, most of the time) Maybe it started in an effort to give a toddler one more chance to make a good decision or it could have been an exhausted mom's last chance effort to sit just three seconds longer.......most likely both. Secretly, if I'm really tired, three multiplied times four (counted warnings) is twelve, with at least three seconds of pause between each warning.........that's a full 18 seconds of sitting, which in my new found role of motherhood is a full coffee break!
So, I apologize to anyone who has been subjected to or will be subjected to my 1....2......3 or any of the other exhausted phrases. I give you full permission to roll your eyes!
2 comments:
I am 100% behind you on that one! It is funny how we think things will be when we have kids....just the same as everyone else. You do what you have to do to get that end result! There are still some things I say I won't do, but the right situation hasn't come along yet either!
What a perfect post! This week has been full of that kind of stuff trying to get the kids to listen and obey. I even pulled out the 1-2-3 (hadn't yet had to use it). I didn't even explain why I was counting, but Kora immediately knew I meant busniness (probably the tone :) of my voice) and did whatever it was I had asked her to do.
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