reading

the broom of the system
david foster wallace

watching

good will hunting

drinking

coffee
milk
water

eating

ham, cheese, tomato, mayo sandwiches
cinnamon cake
omelette
chocolate

Debbie tried some positive spousing on me today. It worked. It's based on positive parenting, and the theory is you don't give a child the option of saying no to something. You give them a choice, but a choice that already accepts what you wish them to do.

So if you want them to go to bed, you don't ask, "would you like to go to bed now?", cos they'll say no. Instead you ask, "would you like to wear the green pyjamas tonight or the blue ones?" And whatever they answer, they're already committed to going to bed. But they feel like they've been involved in the process and made a choice they want to do.

I was sitting there reading the paper, relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, feeling like I'd done my share of work today as I'd spent an hour scrubbing the kitchen floor. Which, by the way, is not what I would choose to spend an hour doing.

She asked me would I rather prepare the bottle for Matthew's feed, or do the laundry. I fell right into it. I didn't even think, "why is she giving me a choice here instead of telling me to do something?", but just jumped right into offering to prepare the bottle as that was the easiest task.

Deb obviously thought she was on a roll here, as 30 mins later she asked me, "mike, would you rather feed matthew or fold the laundry?". And damned if I didn't get right up and feed him. Again, easiest task scenario.

It was only much later, thinking about the day, that I realised I'd been out-thought.