"I'll Time Ya!"

The fastest, easiest, least painful way to get kids to do something is to say, "I'll time ya!" This works especially well if there are two children involved, as one will try to beat the other. For example, everyday when it's time to get ready for swimming lessons, the girls are inevitably doing something they love-- playing Polly Pockets or reading Magic School Bus books. So today, I said I'd time them. H had her swimming suit on, ready to go in three minutes. P was second and beat her time with a whopping 1 minute. We are now ready to go ten minutes early.

With the extra ten minutes, I'll offer up another trick I've learned. When a child is "full" (aka wants to eat dessert), you only need to say, "___ more bites!" Insert the exact number of bites it will take the child to finish said food. And voila! Done.

Since it's so hot today, I wanted to make sure the girls drank enough water. While they were playing throughout the day, we played a game to drink more. At random times throughout the day, I would yell out a wild animal noise from some part of the house. They would hear me, take a drink, and then yell out the animal name. I felt a little ridiculous but it got the job done! There were more bathroom breaks than normal.

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