Satirical Parenting Advice: Kids getting out of bed

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This past weekend, we had my dad's family reunion. We camped in the mountains of Wyoming where it rained like crazy. This was especially exciting since we did the tent thing due to us purchasing a mini-van and no longer having towing capability for our camper... When it wasn't raining, we enjoyed horseback riding (Kaitlyn is obsessed), building fires (apparently all of my kids are obsessed), throwing rocks in the lake (again, all), and rolling Razors (yes, you read that right--no one was necessarily obsessed with the rolling aspect, though). Good times all around. Today, I am enjoying the mountain of laundry that follows camping. And I use the word "enjoying" quite sarcastically.

You may recall that my dad is where I get my "chill" disposition from. Another quality I got from his family is my dry sense of humor. His family is a big group of "smart-alecs"--there is a lot of joking and sarcasm going on. It is always a good time. While we were there, my family was asking me about this blog and the topic went toward haters. With that in mind, my Uncle Terryl told me he would offer some free parenting advice for me to share. So here we go. If you ever have trouble with your child getting out of bed, you simply need to leave something your child is afraid of in the hall right outside the room. In my cousin's case (this happens to be a true story), it was a wolf mask. My cousin got laughing about this experience. They had tried everything they could think of and finally resorted to the wolf mask. And it worked. Unfortunately, this conversation came up right as I was leaving. Next year, I will have to do some interviews and get some more wisdom from the family.

While this story was told in jest, it was a method actually used back when I think parenting was a little less stressful for parents. They did what worked. There are some good points to take away here. The great points of this story are to a) always have a sense of humor while you are solving problems and b) you can think outside the box. Obviously, you don't want to be doing something that scares your child if your child is too sensitive to handle it. My cousin has grown up to be a great father and husband and is a very kind and giving person, so I don't think it ruined him. He laughs about it. 

Okay, back to laundry.

Parenting--sometimes you need to laugh at yourself {Quotable Mondays}

Laughter is the best medicine. Sometimes you are faced with situations in life where the best reaction is either to laugh or cry...and while a good cry is sometimes necessary, laughing is really my preferred method of reacting in these situations.

On my "HaHa" board on Pinterest, I have a few things pinned that are just so true, and funny because it is true, that apply to parenting. Here are some of my favorites:

Seriously! Parents still like to have fun--to go movies, stay up talking with friends, have parties...you stay up late watching a movie on Friday night...then your children still get up at the same time the next day!

Yep. You become a mom and the days all pretty much just blur together. But I have found that there is some excitement to different days of the week again once your children start school because the weekend is different.

But weekend also means church is coming, and I love church and find it to be important and all, but we all know when the phrase "Day of Rest" is applied to Sunday that doesn't apply to moms--at least not moms with young children. Maybe when they get older? I don't know. Not holding my breath.

Really just enough said.

Seriously! Let me tell you, what one child can do alone pales in comparison to a couple of them together. But I also must share, so far as my experience goes with 0-8 year olds, the most difficult age so far as messes goes is three. The three year old is mobile and strong enough to make an impact, but doesn't have the attention span that older kids do to stick to one toy--especially when you have more than one three year old playing together. 

What does this have to do with parenting? Well, it is our children who suck our capacity to remember things. That is what. 

Do you have any you love?