Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Micro or Macro

I am walking a balance beam and I have fallen off the ruddy thing so many times I am starting to have bruises upon bruises. Just when I feel like I've got my balance something comes flying at me warp 8 and knocks me clear off the beam into a pile of, ahem, you know what.

Today's post will discuss micro vs. macro management of my eight year old's responsibilities.

I know, those of you with toddlers are going, what responsibilities could he possibly have.

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He's in grade three and he is also taking a group piano class. That means that daily there is practicing and homework from music and sometimes there is homework from school.

I know, doesn't sound like a big deal, does it?
Um. Well. He's eight. He's at school all day learning and having fun. What do you think the last thing he wants to do when he's at home is?

I'll take piano practicing for $1,000 Alex. Ding, ding, ding!

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This week I waffled between micro managing which coincidentally enough is very much like nagging and macro managing which also went along the lines of nagging but with less intensity. Have I mentioned that I am very type A? Not doing what the teacher tells you is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

It won't surprise you that neither approach was very successful.

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Next week I will try throwing popcorn at his head until he practices. It just might work, he loathes popcorn.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

haha, i like the popcorn solution (although call me when you are going to do it and i will "pick" them up for you!!).
every kid is different, and i have a slight feeling i will be in this same position next year with liz and in a few with mac.

Ashley said...

Haha, that's funny. If the popcorn solution works do tell, I will have to try that with my much younger and super "independent" toddler :)

R Royal Family said...

Popcorn hey? Knowing Mr Jack I think he would just scoff at that or laugh either way I hate to break it to you but it's not gonna work LOL. No suggestions here, only to say you are way better of a mom than I am. Practicing is THE exact reason I didn't put Hannah in piano ;-)

BTW I love the pics, especially the first one. and here you had almost convinced me to not get an SLR

Angella said...

Popcorn makes everything better. Just sayin'...

Kristin said...

You mean you don't like repeating yourself a million times to tell him to practice?

Your popcorn plan sounds like a good one. :)

Lori said...

I hope you find a schedule that fits in a bit of everything, and if not... go with the popcorn idea

Cheryl said...

bribery...that's my strategy
Kidding!
I was exactly the same way with my dancing Kami! Do I wish I had practiced more now? YES!!!! Tough to see the future though at that age.
Patience and persistence I guess is what we can do, hopefully they WANT to practice in the end...

Alicia W. said...

Hell.. I say go with the popcorn! :)

Unknown said...

This is part of the reason why I keep procrastinating putting my kid into any "extra curricular" activities! HA!

P.S. How did his hair get so blond?? I thought it was darker... Love his smile!

Kami said...

I'm totally using the term 'macro managing' next time my husband whines that I'm nagging him! He'll stop, think, and then say something snarky, and I'll just throw some popcorn in his face.

On second thought, I don't think this will end up working out in my favor...

Natalie said...

the popcorn would be fine except that then you would be the one that has to clean up the stupid mess! when i potty trained kirstyn i ate M&Ms in front of her everytime i went potty! she had to do it to get candy! i say bribes aren't always bad! :-)

Kristin said...

If I didn't practise, the next day my mum would wake me up at ridiculous o'clock and I would have to practise double time, did I mention it was ridiculous o'clock - not really a pleasure for anyone in the family to hear me plunking away. But it did make me practise more often at normal o'clock. But maybe if he is a morning person and school is not too early anyway it might be a good time for practice.

Mighty Morphin' Mama said...

Ugh. I hate that whole 'how to get them to do what I want without nagging them to death' thing...
I recently told my 12 year old. "No, I can't make you do anything. But I sure as hell can make your life a living hell if you disrespect me and disobey me like that." I then proceeded to make his life a living hell. (meaning I withdrew every priviledge, activity, toy, bit of entertainment...) Within 3 days (day 2 being the worst I have ever experienced as a mother), there was a complete turn around. A week later, I now have a very obedient child with a great attitude. Now if I can only figure out how to make it last...
That was a very long way of saying, sometimes it is just about creating the right motivation. But what the heck that is, I can rarely figure out. Good luck!