Luke is becoming increasingly harder to motivate. I have to remind him a dozen times to do something. I get frustrated by his "not my fault" attitude. I hate that he won't hear me when I administer correction. An explanation of what he's doing wrong, and suggesting how he can prevent that problem in future, only results in him finding someone else to blame for the reason he messed up in the first place. My head explodes.
And then I had an epiphany. Luke's behavior is a direct result of the fact that I don't give him enough personal attention. If I gave him one on one time more often, or listened with my eyes instead of just my ears, or made the time to play Go Fish with him like I promised after dinner (but instead let life get in the way of our plans, pushing him aside yet again), he'd be way more apt to listen to me. He'd have a more compliant spirit if he knows that I don't just listen, but actually hear him. His output is a direct result of my input.
I will be making my middle son a priority beginning today.
4 comments:
OMG. My children live in your house. And the solution to your problem is the same as the solution to mine! *sigh*
Sounds like you have a good, solid plan. I hope that you can make it work with each of your children. They are so great!
Yep! I've been recruited to play "Hackey Night in Canada"
(that's right, I said hAckey - it's when you use a mini hockey stick and a hackey sack, and you take shots on your son wearing full protective goalie gear)
"I deal with everyone so often that I rarely get quality time with anyone." This is sooo true! Having 4 kids feels like I'm juggling people all the time.
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