Thursday, September 9, 2010

Domino Effect- Is It Worth It?...

 

It sounds like this inside my head....

Holding hands, walking along a fence line bordered on other side by the road:
Uh-oh. Lamp post. Squeeze the both of between post and fence or go around. Hmm- Going around... it's close to the road. It'll break his focus. Oh crap. Missing grass. Pile of rocks. He'll definitely want dig his hands in. And then I'll - should I let him or- remind him to keep moving toward the bathroom before he pees in his pants. If I have to keep him away from the rocks.. it'll add the the battle count for the day and well-  screw it.. we can both fit between the fence and the pole. Sideways... but we'll fit. Not worth it.

Leaving the house.
Finally!! Got him to the door. Oh crap. I forgot something. Is it worth it? hmm.. Sunglasses. It's burning bright out there. I'm gonna get a head ache but... Sunglasses are in the bathroom. If i go back- he's sure to follow. If he makes it to the bathroom- He'll insist on using the bathroom. And washing up. And playing in the bubbles. And sort laundry. And move his step stool. And if I get him out of there- he'll need to check the fridge and want more to drink. So... headache. Yup. No Sunglasses. Not worth the domino effect.

The bigger stuff. THe 'lesson stuff'. Especially in unexpected places and unexpected times, like in the doorway of the YMCA at busy let out time.  The 'is it worth it'- is clear. YES. But sooo much harder to carry out.

For once this is an 'needed' band aid. He intentionally injured himself. Ya. We have lots of little issues encircling us these days.. like our own personal tornado.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Ha, ha! So true! Very funny when you spell it all out like that, but it's so exhausting living it.

scooping it up said...

oh teggy. your mama cries when you are hurt. don't do that to yourself!

Amy said...

LOL! Your thoughts when leaving the house are almost mine word for word!

Ronnie and Suzi said...

Okay, so I have to giggle a slight bit because I have the "is it worth it?" conversation in my own head at least a half a dozen times a day. To spice it up a bit I add in the "How bad could it be?" conversation when I am assessing which kid I need to redirect from themselves, you know, one kid is playing with markers vs. one kid playing with an outlet. You obviously go for the kid with the outlet and think, "hey, it's okay if marker ends up EVERYWHERE because I have saved sister/brother from electricuting themselves"...LOL!