Dysfunctional Families
I had another aha moment the other day after a holiday photo shoot with my talented sister, Michele, of Michele Cardamone Photography. Our family was downright dysfunctional. Is it me, or is every family loud, crazy and disorganized? Somehow, between the boys beating each other up in the snow and having meltdowns, Michele miraculously captured some good shots of us, but it wasn’t easy, and I was relieved the photographer knew us intimately.
Organize Your Life
On the way home, Baddy and I discussed our dysfunction and came up with a plan to tighten the borders and iron out its deeply creased wrinkles. He agreed that although he isn’t a morning person, he would get up after the second snooze alarm instead of the tenth. He also vowed to stop using a squirt gun to wake the kids, at least until the third warning, and to choose better words when frustrated, instead of telling his seven-year-old to get up off his behind and stop playing “knife kills fork” at the breakfast table.
The boys agreed they would no longer blast dubstep while parkouring off the leather couch before 7 a.m., and that they would shower before they smelled like sour milk, not after.
As for homework, no more excuses! As much as the boys need playtime, they need to learn structure and routine and get it done without Baddy and me saddling up to herd them to their study spot. So we’ve come up with a time and a plan we’ll stick to daily. They’ll also stop using my supplies, because they now have my old desk to store all their pencils, paper, scissors, tape and so on.
As for me, I know I’ve written about this before, and yet I’m still addicted to my blog and the internet. In this new year, I solemnly swear to enter my own seven-step program to stop working so hard and focus more on my family. Step one is moving my computer out of our central living area so I’m no longer sucked in and abandoning all familial responsibilities, like nurturing the kids and making their meals. I’ll let you know what the other six steps are.
I promise, things are changing around here. What about you? What changes do you need to make?
