Saturday 18 October 2014

Fine Tune the Team

My Team at home needs fine tuning I think. Its a small team, The Husband, Tara and I.

Tara is seven, and is currently being "made to do things" around the house:
"Tara, please put your clothes in the laundry basket"
"Tara, please put your plates in the sink" and occasionally
"Tara, please separate your socks and underpants from the mountain of ironing".

Now, the instructions are clear and she is physically capable of doing all of the above. Why then do I have to ask/remind her to do them everyday? If I don't ask, I have to do them myself. If I ask, (every...single...day), it makes me twitchy and annoyed. There is an old saying, "If the Learner hasn't learnt, the Teacher hasn't taught. So how do I teach her?

The Husband does a few things around the house, but it would be great if he did things I really need help with instead of those that he chooses to do. "Getting" subtle hints is not one of The Husband's strengths, and I don't ask directly either...just in case I appear ungrateful...or worse... he doesn't do it after I've asked.

The final team member is me. I definitely need fine tuning. Period.

I once read in a magazine, (in one of those 'list of 10' articles), how to get things done by asking nicely. This stuck in my head because it made me laugh....a lot.

10 ways to get things done. Point number 2.

Praise and ask nicely : "Darling, thank you so much for not putting your wet towel on the bed. Now it would be wonderful if you could make your bed after you wake up."

Should work like a dream apparently.

I still laugh when I imagine Tara and The Husband being at the receiving end of that. In fact I laugh even more at the thought of me mouthing those words to someone...anyone.

8/365..check

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