This week, Hyrum and Gabba are at Grandma's house. We left them there on Saturday after Grandpa's birthday party was over, and Grandma won't be bringing them back until Thursday. I must say, that the house is REALLY quiet without them here. I wouldn't have thought that just two children out of five would have that much impact. But they are the oldest/loudest/bossiest of the bunch, so it makes sense, now that I think of it. Lucy, Eliza and Yvette have been playing happily on their own for three days now. There has been a minimum of mess, a minimum of contention, and a minimum of attitude. Why is it that the oldest, most capable children are the ones that give you the most grief and cause the most trouble?
Anyway, Lucy. Oh, how I love that girl! When she is good, she is worth her wait in gold. If I could bottle whatever it is that makes her fabulous, and sell it, I could make a mint.
Last Thursday, I was trying to get the house ready for the weekend - Friday temple trip, Saturday Grandpa's party & working on the gazebo, etc. - and the house looked like London after the Blitzkrieg. Frustration levels were mounting as I tried to motivate Hyrum & Gabriella to do their chores, and as they found every possible diversionary tactic and excuse for inaction in the book.
Meanwhile, Lucy went upstairs and cleaned the entire playroom ALL BY HERSELF. Then she went on to the girls' room and cleaned the entire room ALL BY HERSELF, then she organized the closet. Then, she cleaned the school table (one of her chores), restocked the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom simply because she noticed it was out (Gabriella's chore), brought the trashcan up from the end of the driveway (Hyrum's chore), and relined all the small trashcans in the house (Eliza's chore). Then, she found Yvette and played with her to keep her happy and distracted so I could work on what I needed to get done.
Is that amazing or what? The best part is this: She did it all on her own initiative. I didn't ask her to do anything, beyond reminding her that the toys in the playroom needed to be picked up (her chore). The rest was all her idea. She simply kept finding things that needed to get done...and then doing them! No reminding, asking, threatening, scolding, nagging or reprimanding on my part (which is good, because I was busy doing all of the above with Hyrum and Gabriella...). And (AND!) when she was done with each volunteer act of service, it was done exactly the way it should be done, and even done as nicely as I would have done it. Can I clone her?
No, I can't. Because that very afternoon, she snuck the kitchen shears outside and gave the neighbors' cat a haircut.
So, just so you know, she really is a normal six year-old. She is the most devious, sneaky kid I have. When she is good, she's worth her weight in gold. But when she is bad, she's beyond "horrid", she's absolutely for sale.
This week, Hyrum and Gabba are at Grandma's house. We left them there on Saturday after Grandpa's birthday party was over, and Grandma won't be bringing them back until Thursday. I must say, that the house is REALLY quiet without them here. I wouldn't have thought that just two children out of five would have that much impact. But they are the oldest/loudest/bossiest of the bunch, so it makes sense, now that I think of it. Lucy, Eliza and Yvette have been playing happily on their own for three days now. There has been a minimum of mess, a minimum of contention, and a minimum of attitude. Why is it that the oldest, most capable children are the ones that give you the most grief and cause the most trouble? 
Anyway, Lucy. Oh, how I love that girl! When she is good, she is worth her wait in gold. If I could bottle whatever it is that makes her fabulous, and sell it, I could make a mint. 
Last Thursday, I was trying to get the house ready for the weekend - Friday temple trip, Saturday Grandpa's party & working on the gazebo, etc. - and the house looked like London after the Blitzkrieg. Frustration levels were mounting as I tried to motivate Hyrum & Gabriella to do their chores, and as they found every possible diversionary tactic and excuse for inaction in the book. 
Meanwhile, Lucy went upstairs and cleaned the entire playroom ALL BY HERSELF. Then she went on to the girls' room and cleaned the entire room ALL BY HERSELF, then she organized the closet. Then, she cleaned the school table (one of her chores), restocked the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom simply because she noticed it was out (Gabriella's chore), brought the trashcan up from the end of the driveway (Hyrum's chore), and relined all the small trashcans in the house (Eliza's chore). Then, she found Yvette and played with her to keep her happy and distracted so I could work on what I needed to get done.
Is that amazing or what? The best part is this: She did it all on her own initiative. I didn't ask her to do anything, beyond reminding her that the toys in the playroom needed to be picked up (her chore). The rest was all her idea. She simply kept finding things that needed to get done...and then doing them! No reminding, asking, threatening, scolding, nagging or reprimanding on my part (which is good, because I was busy doing all of the above with Hyrum and Gabriella...). And (AND!) when she was done with each volunteer act of service, it was done exactly the way it should be done, and even done as nicely as I would have done it. Can I clone her?
No, I can't. Because that very afternoon, she snuck the kitchen shears outside and gave the neighbors' cat a haircut. 
So, just so you know, she really is a normal six year-old. She is the most devious, sneaky kid I have. When she is good, she's worth her weight in gold. But when she is bad, she's beyond "horrid", she's absolutely for sale.
3 comments:
Lucy is awesome. Even including the cat's haircut. It's nice to know that she's wonderful but not perfect yet. What a gift to a mama for sure.
Ok - that is great! Thanks for sharing! :)
she is a sweetie pie. And at least it was a cat and not a sibling who's hair she cut!!
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