Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Pre-travel toothpaste prep

Sometimes you gotta uglify something before you can pretty it up.  I felt a little obnoxious about putting a nasty, tsk-tsk sign in our shared bathroom.  But it was only there for a week.
The boys, they leave toothpaste blobs in the sink.  It yucks me out, but while we're home it's just me that gets yucked out, so I feel petty to be constantly carping about this.  In a few weeks, though, we'll be traveling.  We'll stay at other people's houses.  And in the past, some of them have gotten yucked out, just like I do.

Nagging is ugly, too, and besides feeling petty, it's proved singularly ineffective.  One problem is that nagging happens long after the fact, not at the moment of toothpaste yuck-ification.  But a sign right at the place of the dreadful act?  Would "pre-nagging" work?
The answer one week later:  yes.  We have a beautiful sink now.  I took the ugly sign down.  We're ready to travel.  

6 comments:

  1. Ooo! Congratulations!

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  2. I wonder if that would work for my oldest...

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    1. Worth a try, right? Worst that can happen is that your kid thinks of you as a nit-picky tyrant (which wasn't far from my own kids' previous impressions of me). But now I get to stop nagging! - MM

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  3. Clear instructions and expectations work wonders. Good job and have fun in your travels.

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    1. That, and threats that maybe "how to properly hang a towel" might be the next sign on the wall. Thanks for the warm wishes! - MM

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