Lessons relearned

A half hour before bedtime, for the boys, they are supposed to clean the play room and their bedroom. This evening they played and messed around so no cleaning got done. This lead to the bucket coming out and everything going in that was left on the floor. This gets put away until they can keep the room clean for 2 weeks. The boys cried and Jake and I had to be the bad guys.

We talked to the boys about why it wasn't cleaned. Xander said it was Tiger's fault. Tiger blamed Dexter and Dexter asked if he could have some bread to eat in bed. (That kid is never full) We asked the boys to change the answers they were giving us to not blame or bring up anyone else but say what they could have done differently. We went on to talk about how important it is to take personal responsibility. Spending your life not accomplishing goals and blaming others is an easy path to take but not a very fruitful one.

Walking down the stairs I realized what that I had been a fool lately. My favorite definition of wisdom is knowledge applied. I was raised well by two loving parents and 3 older sisters and I received a TON of knowledge. I am fully responsible for not applying that knowledge. I have had goals that I have yet to meet and I have been putting them off for reasons that I can control. Life just gets more scary when you realize you are the one in the drivers seat and have been asleep at the wheel for the last few miles.

Having these kids has revealed to me the lessons I have forgotten and helped me in ways that I never knew possible. For that I will probably let them have their toys back after 1 day of keeping it clean. I think they deserve points for putting me back on the right path.