Okay, the other day that genius Amy over at Resourceful Mommy invited everyone to join her for a 30 Day Challenge. It’s called the 30 Days of Change Parenting Challenge-Go Out On A Limb With Me. I have really come to like Amy(and not only because she hosts rockin’ Twitter parties), but because she engages on Twitter….in real conversation. Go figure! I know! It’s crazy! Oh, right, the challenge. You should go here….or here and check it out, but WAIT, don’t go just yet, you haven’t read my whole post yet! I will fill you in a little bit. The Day One Challenge was to avoid saying “no” to your children(in my home this does include my husband) as much as possible. Now, I personally believe I have a bit of an advantage since my kids are both in middle school(gone for much of the day) and my hubby is at work(most of the day) and I am at home alone with the dogs. Now can you see why I am ALWAYS logged in to Twitter? Explains a lot, doesn’t it? I honestly don’t know how well this challenge would have gone if it were about six or seven years ago when my boys were much younger, but it was a good one to start with and overall, it went well….as far as I can remember!
Now, we have a small chalkboard that hangs in our kitchen and I could have written the challenge as a reminder to myself, but if you know my family, you know they would have had way too much fun with that. So, not happening. I could write it in my hand each day. Nope, that isn’t going to work either since I wash my hands so many time during the day. Okay, fine! I will try to just remember!
And that brings me to the Day Two challenge, which is today, and apparently dropped into my inbox between late last night and very early this morning. Yeah, probably should have opened my email BEFORE waking everyone else up this morning. Challenge fail. Already. And before 7 a.m. The challenge is to avoid “bickering” with your spouse/significant other in front of your kids, no matter what.
There are a couple of ways I could look at this. First, I could just say oh well and chalk it up to a failed challenge for the entire day and not even bother when everyone comes home later from school and work to salvage it and just wait and see what tomorrow brings. OR…..I could be extra conscientious about it later and make a true effort on this one. I’ll be honest, it is a hard one. I know in my head that it is horrible to do and really has a lasting affect on my children. There is just no decent excuse. Here is why: arguing or bickering in front of your kids isn’t good. Period. But, what makes it even worse is if you do resolve things “later,” the kids don’t usually see that and they are just left with the memory of the argument. So, ultimately, the truly best thing for them is to not do it all. In the first place.
There you have it! My take on the first couple of days of the 30 Days of Change Parenting Challenge. Now you can scroll back up and click that link and check it out for yourself. This could be fun, really……and a wonderful learning experience. Don’t you think you owe it to your kids and yourself?
I like the idea of the 30 day challenge and will definately be checking back to see the upcoming challenges. I especially like how you include your husband in it. I agree, it's so important not to argue in front of children. My little guy is just a baby but we have to start creating good habits now!
I like the idea of the 30 day challenge and will definately be checking back to see the upcoming challenges. I especially like how you include your husband in it. I agree, it's so important not to argue in front of children. My little guy is just a baby but we have to start creating good habits now!