Wouldn’t having a day of your own be wonderful? This would be a day where everything automatically went just as you liked it…. What could be better? Having this day several times a month just because “It’s Your Day!” Let me explain….
My brother and I were only 10 months apart in age and we fought constantly throughout our childhood. We drove our mother to drink…a full pot of tea every day! It was the hard stuff too. No herbal tea for her…straight up Lipton!
If my brother said the sky was blue, I would say it was aqua. (I was older and knew more colors….)
If I had the brown cowboy cup, suddenly that was his favorite. This went on all day long. My mom would say if we weren’t sleeping, we were arguing and that would not have been an exaggeration. The only time we cooperated and got along was when we were alone and there was no competition for attention. If my mom was in the room we forced her to choose between us…. Who would get their way? I wish my mom had known about “It’s Your Day!”
I read this idea in a book about two years ago and I have to tell you it has saved me hours of listening to endless bickering and me being accused of favoritism….
It’s called the even day, odd day plan. (It only works if you have two kids.)
To set it up, let the older child pick first: Does he or she want the even days or odd days of the month? Nine out of 10 older children will pick even days, kind of like calling “heads” in a coin toss. It won’t take long for the younger child to realize there are more odd days than even days in the year, but so be it. Don’t try to adjust this… once you start making exceptions to the “your day” rules it’s a slippery slope and you will regret it. In our house on Your Day! you get to sit in the front seat, pick the fast food restaurant if we go, pick the TV show if there is a conflict and so on….any choices to be made, if it’s Your Day! it’s your choice. No fuss no muss because tomorrow is the other person’s day.
Because I like balance I also added chores to your day…on your day, you are also the person who feeds the dogs and the cats. No complaints about this because after all, it’s Your Day! My boys like this because then every other day they feel “special” and it encourages harmony. When they start to bicker over something all I have to say is “Whose day is it?” That ends it because how can you argue with a calendar? When people are co-parenting, this rule can also apply at the other parents’ house as well… it’s an easy rule to follow.
Now I think we should have an “It’s Your Day” for moms and dads…I get the even days!
Parenting is a tough job
and once you get good at it,
you’re out of a job!
Barbara Coloroso
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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