Buttons and the kids who push them

I am a parent and I have buttons.  Not just the ones on my shirts or that prevent my pants from falling off, no I also have the harder to see ones that my kids are so good at identifying.  Some days I think they are humming the button factory song.

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “No”.
He said “Turn the button with your left hand.”

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “No”.
He said “Turn the button with your right hand.”

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “No”.
He said “Turn the button with your left foot.”

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “No”.
He said “Turn the button with your right foot.”

Hello my name is Joe and I work (real hard) in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “No”.
He said “Turn the button with your head.”

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory
I have a house, and a dog, and a family
One day, my boss said to me, “Hey Joe, are you busy?”
I said, “Yes!!!”

My Buttons

Timeliness

I like to get out the door and be places on time.  My kids are not so concerned with timeliness and they are exceptionally good at ignoring me, being otherwise occupied and generally delaying the process of getting ready.  Since I am the parent who takes our six-year old to school every day, I encounter this issue on a somewhat regular basis.  It is very frustrating.  I wrote previously about building resilience in kids.  It is in this situation particularly that I could use some resiliency potion myself…  How hard is it really to put on socks or find a bike helmet??

Table Manners

We had to make a sign that just says “Lips Closed” that we can hold up at the table to remind our six year old the keep her lips closed when she is chewing.  We could probably put together a series of rotating signs to cut down on instructions provided orally – “sit down,” “face forward,” “use your fork,” “stop kicking me,” “Don’t talk with your mouth full,”

Fighting

It is really the screeching part of the fighting that gets to me.  We are working on this and expect to be a house full of peaceful, calm and reasoned discussions in short order.

Some days I work in a button factory and other days the factory workers do cross-training and help me to wash the windows.