"I found the turtle!"

For a few years now our kids have been playing a hide and seek game around the house. It all started when I bought my daughter a package on Bendaroos. She discovered that they stuck to the walls and doors and she covered her door with her little creations. One day she made a turtle out of Bendaroos and she decided to place it on one of my African masks in our hallway. She wanted to see how long it would take anyone to notice. Of course, I noticed right away and asked her why it was placed there.

She told me about hiding it to see if any of the three boys would find it. One day one of the boys did find it, and he moved it to a new hiding place...on a picture frame. Let the games begin!

The turtle has been found and hidden about once a week or so ever since then. I'm amazed after almost 2 years it still sticks to anything we place it on. Yesterday we were watching a movie. My 4 year old was whining to me about sissy pushing him off then couch when suddenly, mid sentence, he yells "I found it. I found the turtle!"

You see...poor little guy rarely is the finder of the turtle. He feels like the big kids hide it too hard and he cries when ever anyone else finds it. "No fair!" Haha.

The turtle was on a wall sconce, and cleverly hidden in a colorful flower.

My 4 year old decided to hide it in the kitchen on one of my batea bowls. Very smart boy! The color blends in well and he's excited to see how long it stays hidden. Sadly it is right above the recycling bin so I am guessing it wont last long.

What sort of fun games do your kids play together? We also have a "Hide Andrew" game. My son had a wallet sized photo of himself from school and he attaches tape to the back and sticks it random places. I placed it in the door jam! Shhh..don't tell! ;)

Take a step back mom!

Hello blog world! I've been spending much of my free time working through some inner issues lately and this morning I had a silly little A-ha moment. As much as I pride myself for thinking things through and thinking outside of the box I was a bit humbled that I hadn't gone down this thought path years ago.

I get frustrated with my children. I get frustrated with them a lot. We have four children, 2 with unique needs, and add on teenager, pre-teen girl, and toddler to boot on that list...it's made for a challenging position for the job title of parent.

My kids all have chores, and rotate responsibilities so that each one has to do the same chores. Some of these include unloading or loading the dishwasher, setting the table for dinner, and laundry.

As I put away the dishes today I caught myself grumbling under my breath. I've been sick off-and-on for 10 days. Not only has no one picked up slack...they all seem to be slacking along with mom. *sigh*

As I put away the plates and cups I thought about my 8 year old. I am constantly reprimanding him for standing on the inside of the base cabinets to reach the plates and cups. He has broken cabinet doors, and chipped off the melamine front of the cabinets as well.

I asked myself today "Why does he do it when I tell him over and over again to not do this?

The answer is quite simple, you dummy! He cannot reach the plates and cups to set the table, or when putting away the dishes. He has to grab a cup 3 times a day to get water to wash down his meds! How did I not think about this sooner?!?

Now, don't think I am absolutely horrible. We have step stools. Several of them. He chooses not to take on the hassle of getting the stool out, opening it up, and then closing it and putting it back up where it belongs. So....he climbs.

I am going to rearrange the cabinets today that hold the plates, bowls, and cups that the kids use. I will move them all to the bottom shelf and am going to get one of those kiddie one-step stools that can be left in the kitchen.

I will be interested to see how this experiment goes. Will he use the stool? Will he insist, as he oftentimes does, on doing it the hard/dangerous/damaging way? We'll see!

The next time I am having a challenge with one of the kids repeatedly doing something they have been told NOT to do I will take a step back and ask myself "Why is he/she doing this?" and then I will speak to my child and come up with a solution/compromise together.

In the words of a friend I recently met "Parenting isn't for sissies!"