Frog-Eating

For the last few weeks, the Casey Household was not a pretty place to be on school mornings.
 
There was much crying and gnashing of teeth by all of us (except the dog, who has been surprisingly well behaved) between 7 and 8am with the "get ready for school" ritual.  I am quite sure that the lilting cries of "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOOOOOOOOL" could be heard by all the neighbors on the block as well as some poor souls in Guam.
 
By the time the bus was boarded and on it's way, this LeaderMom was frazzled and nauseous, and the day had barely begun.
 
Having checked off the list the things that could possibly be causing this behavior (sickness? classroom upset? full moon?), a new strategy was needed.  In a quiet moment (quite rare, indeed), I decided that my daughter needed to start each school day by eating a frog: not the animal kind, the procrastinating kind. 
 
Based on one of the principles in the book Eat That Frog!, I devised a checklist for my daughter to guide the new frog-eating morning ritual.  We were going to use this to conquer the task of  "Do the Most Difficult Task First."  It was as simple as listing what needed to be done in the morning, in what order, and adding a simple tracking mechanism (days of the week).  The icing on the cake was an official-looking clipboard and of course, stickers.
 
Day one and two of frog-eating was similar to the week prior: dreadful.  But day three...a change.  There was laughter and joking and general merriment in the morning while we were getting ready to walk out the door.  My husband asked, "Who is this kid?"  I answered, "I'm not sure, but I am going with it." There was not an ounce of frazzle or nausea to be found.   
 
We are on to week three of eating frogs, and things continue to look delicious.  Here's to new recipes (and LeaderMom strategies)!

P.S. Here is the Morning List for your downloding!  Download Morning List

 

Comments

[Carol Faenzi]

charming!!