A Parenting Masterpiece
I’m a big fan of colored paint. After a friend “converted” me to the world of color, white walls seem naked to me somehow. A can of paint is one of the quickest, cheapest ways to give a room an entirely new look and feel.
A couple of the walls in our house were more than ready for a fresh coat of paint. A wall can only take so much scrubbing of messy hand prints before you start washing the paint away with the goo.
Spurred on by the Spring Cleaning Fever, we set off to Lowe’s and returned with two cans of paint with the alluring name of Ole Au Lait (which somehow describes the warm tan color I selected).
My plan was to wait till the kids went to bed to paint the walls. When Eli learned of my after bedtime plans, his big blue eyes welled up with tears. He wanted to help paint.
How could I resist? Well, I couldn’t. Yet, the thought of my two boys wielding paintbrushes made me nervous. I decided to just try telling them exactly what I expected from them as my little helpers.
Rules of The Game
I laid out the rules for the boys. Stay on the paint tarp, only paint on the walls, use soft gentle strokes with the paintbrush, etc. I gave them each a paintbrush and had them practice without paint. Then we broke out the paint. You know what? They followed the rules and had a blast! It ended up being such a fun activity that I would have missed out on if I would have just waited till the kids went to bed.
They are so proud of the Ole Au Lait colored walls and tell just about everyone who will listen. Kids are so eager to learn new things and try new things and help Mom and Dad out wherever they can. Amazing things happen when parents are able to invite their kids into their world and involve them in “grown-up” tasks and projects.
Parenting By The Minute
Instead of waiting till you child is sleeping, try involving them in what you are doing. Take a minute and talk to them about what you are doing. Ask them if they want to help. If they do, find an age-appropriate task for them, lay out the rules to keep them safe and to keep the messes at minimum. A lot of the time, kids get into messes or “misbehave” simply because we fail to tell them what we expect them to do. We spend plenty of time telling them what we don’t want them to do, but miss the boat in telling them what we do want.
Taking that extra minute to tell your kids what you want them to do can save your sanity and help your kids gain the skills to become happy, well-adjusted members of society because they know what behaviors and actions are appropriate. Remember, we aren’t just raising children, we are raising adults. These are the kinds of moments that will last a lifetime, in your memory and in theirs.
