A Timely Post

I am writing this post from a hotel room in Bentonville, AR.  This weekend, Emma had a dance competition in Oklahoma City, OK.  So, we drove to OKC Saturday and spent the night.  Matt had a business meeting in Bentonville Monday and Tuesday, so we decided to tag along.  On this trip I have noticed some extremely aggravating not so pleasant traits in my lovely children.  One such trait is the “I can’t” trait.  I can’t open this.  I can’t find that.  I can’t. I can’t.  I can’t.  What it really boils down to is ‘I don’t want to put forth the effort to accomplish this task on my own’.  And, I, as the Mommy, have been far to eager to problem solve for them on the little things like this.

For example, as we were packing up this morning to head from OKC to AR, I told one of my children to go get their swimsuit from the bathroom.  I did not give any instructions on where in the bathroom it was.  But, if you’ve ever stayed in a hotel, you know the bathrooms really aren’t that big.  It was in plain sight.  He walked in a gave a cursory glance toward the spot he ‘thought’ he left it and decided it wasn’t there.  He wanted me to tell him exactly where it was or just go get them for him.  But, it was in plain sight and I refused.  He did go back in 3 times to finally discover it hanging on the towel bar not the bathtub where he thought it was.  Had he spun in a slow circle and looked at all four walls of the bathroom he would have seen it in plain sight. 

As I sit here this evening, I am trying to catch up on the blogs I enjoy.  I came across this timely post at 1, 2, 3…Come Homeschool with Me.  So, tomorrow when if this happens, my plan is to reply sweetly with ‘Please use the eyes God gave you to look at all four walls before telling me you can’t find it.’  I WILL NOT tell him where they are (if they are in plain sight), and I will not huff my way walk in there and retrieve them myself.   To me, this is one small step to independence.  The kids need to know that one day they will need to be self-sufficient, and this is one small, do-able step in that direction.