Hi Ho Hi Ho ... It's to Forced Labor they Go

The most amazing thing happened at home this week. My daughters did the dishes without argument or lip. There was no fighting. No crying. No yelling. No slapping. No “Your face!” or “You’re stupid!” remarks. I just heard the dishes clinking, the hum of them talking, and occasional laughter.

This is rare because like any home with girls, ours usually fight, run and yell loudly, fight, laugh, and then fight more. So when they work together to get a job done, I am so very grateful. I gave them their space, but tried to acknowledge them as they came upstairs:

Me: “Hey my little pretties.”

Youngest Daughter: “Squeal!”

Oldest Daughter: “Hahahaha!”

Me: “Did you girls do the dishes?”

Oldest Daughter: “Yeah!”

Youngest Daughter: “We can’t talk, we’re going to play DDR!”

Aha… that was the reason behind this sudden policy shift. My guess is that the oldest daughter promised the youngest a rockin’ game of DDR (a game in which a dance mat is hooked up to a Playstation and the music video shows where the girls should dance through a series of directional arrows scrolling down the screen point up, down, right, left).

I find there are only three good ways to get my daughters to work well together on any project (barring good manners and my having raised them right, which naturally isn't usually the reason):

1. Find a common goal. Bribe them with shopping, cake, or money.
2. Work together against a common enemy. Let’s talk about how mean our Mom is to make us suffer through this heinous task.
3. Friendship. This one is the most effective and it’s when the magic happens. They will always be sisters and the companionship they enjoy together now will take them to a whole new level as adults. It’s the one that takes my breath away because that’s when I know my daughters will be okay long after I’m gone.
   

DDR helps kids to "Stay Cool!" Well, it does make them exercise, so I'm all for it!