Missing Mommy
Posted By Andrew on February 14, 2009
Originally posted February 13, 2009
Elizabeth is in PA for a long weekend with friends and family, and I’m having fun babysitting the three youngsters. Judy (bless her heart) kept Gabe for me during working hours so I wouldn’t fall even further behind at my job(s). I decided to keep Jenny and Melody here and try to supervise their day between phone calls and other boring office stuff.
I’ve observed that many misbehaved children are naughty simply because they are given too much responsibility–the responsibility to plan their entire day with little parental input. Being immature, they make some poor choices about what to do with their day and end up being corrected for what was actually the parent’s mistake. On the other hand, I’ve also seen overbearing parents smother their children and stifle creativity by not granting them progressive independence. I wanted to avoid both extremes, so I hatched a plan that has been very satisfactory so far.
Because Jenny was recently studying the different branches of U.S. government, I told her that she and Melody would be Congress, and I would be the president. They could prepare legislation that would detail their plans and hopes for the day, and bring it to me for approval. I would either sign the bill or veto it, depending how extravagant they got.
Within an hour, they had the legislation on my desk, painstakingly printed in Jenny’s tapering handwriting. Unlike our president, I did have a line item veto, and I used it on one item that created a scheduling conflict, then approved the rest of the bill. The girls are delighted that they were given so much responsibility and I’m pleased at the maturity they showed in their plans. Neither of them has a chance of ever being a real representative or senator, though, as they showed far too much restraint and good common sense in their bill. The clowns in Washington could take a few lessons from a five and a seven-year-old if they really wanted to fix America.
So far, things have run quite smoothly, and I suggest all fathers send Mommy off for a weekend at least once or twice a year, both for her refreshment and so the fathers gain appreciation for the magnitude of a mother’s job.
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