I don't know if this is true of other's families, but it sure is the truth in our family. Greg seems to have some power over the kids that I do not possess. He often can get them to do things that I cannot. He takes them in a room and talks to them and then they do it. I always say, "What did you tell them?". He says, "I just talked to them about it." Other times he makes up a silly game or whatever. Everything with papa is exciting and fun, and everything with mom is boring and tedious.
Greg really put his persuasive powers to the test last night though. He came home a little earlier than usual because he had to go back to work in the evening after work hours to put out a new computer system. Anyway the kids were of course excited (he also has this wild and crazy effect on the kids; whenever he comes home they start running and screaming). Things were beginning to escalate and it was time to sit down for dinner. We sat down and still things weren't settling down. So, Greg says, "Shh. Shh. Tonight we are going to have a very special quiet pancake dinner (yes, we were having pancakes for dinner). " Then he began to talk in a whisper and told the kids that we could only talk like that during dinner. He even had Lizzy pray in a whisper. Amazingly the kids went right along with it. Anna is the only one who even questioned it. You know the groan and the "Why do we have to....?" . Even she went along after Lizzy, Adam, and I all were doing it. Adam talked quite a bit, but he did it all in a whisper. Amazing. If I would have made that suggestion, I am not sure anyone would have even heard what I said! Well that is the mighty power of papa.
5 comments:
Sounds like fun! Obviously, Kathryn's too small right now... and she tends to prefer me over Shane at this point. But then again, she gets pretty sad when he leaves for work. And, when he gets home for lunch, he usually can't do anything until she gets his attention. Maybe Shane will be like Greg... only time will tell!
It's just a little magic I learned reading Harry Potter. While they may look to me for "fun and excitement" Tammy is the one they turn to when they need love or comfort (after they tire of all the tricks I play on them).
Well if you learned in from Harry Potter, I guess Shane for sure won't pick up on it!
Todd possesses that power as well. Part of it for Todd is that he can be more creative than me. For instance, I would never have thought to tell the kids we were having a "quiet pancake dinner", but Todd definitely could have come up with that. I would just keep telling the kids that they need to settle down or they wouldn't get to eat or something. I definitely agree with the "Dad is fun" "Mom is boring" assessment. That's us to a T. Alia runs and around and screams when Todd comes home as well, but no one really notices when I get home from something. Oh well.
The age old story....what is most common is also most boring. Dad is a treat because he is gone so much of the time.
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