It's All in the Spin

One thing I have learned so far as a parent is that sometimes (often) children will not respond to logic or reason. I've also learned that you really shouldn't TELL your kids anything that might change. Sometimes things happen. "Hey kids let's go to the zoo!" and on the way it starts raining. Explaining to the children that it is raining and we can't go to the zoo or we will get wet is usually met with much whining, crying, and sometimes even a fit. Put a little spin on it... find something even MORE fun (even if it might not be) and it can alleviate the problem.


My husband is the king of spin. I tend to forget the trick and try to reason with these little boys too often. Yesterday we decided Mark needed a new bike. He is way too tall for his so off we went to buy one. Then we got to thinking. Eric might need a new one instead since he's getting on the big side for his too. So we did that parent thing we do where we change our minds and change the plan. I was stressed. We had already told Mark that he was getting a NEW bike and he is the most likely to pitch a fit when things change. So I tried to think of a way to break the news to the kid. Luckily, daddy swooped in to my rescue and said "hey Mark, Eric needs a bigger bike too." Mark didn't look too sure. "Wouldn't you just love to have Eric's super fast bike?" At the words super fast he smiled. Then adding just a little more spin... "... and Eric got that bike when he was 4, and YOU are 4 so it's perfect for you to have it now. You will be able to ride super fast!" Repeating the super fast resulted in an excited "YEA!!" from both boys. I just shook my head. I could have presented that situation a thousand different ways and not gotten a remotely positive response. Daddy just knows how to spin it!

We got to the store and it turns out the next size up bike is actually too big for Eric so we were kind of back to square one. We decided just to let them pick since the two bikes were pretty much the same. Mark was insistent that he get Eric's bike instead of the new one. Eric was more than happy to take the shiny new bike. Everyone was happy. Which makes mommy VERY happy!