Do things right the first time!!

John Wooden says "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"   I found myself saying something very similar to my 13 year old son today as he was hurriedly trying to get out the door to go "hang out" with his friends.  My simple request of taking care of his dirty clothes was completely overwhelming to him apparently because of the gasps and heavy hmmmffff sound that came out of his mouth.  He VERY reluctantly picked up one shirt and one sock off the floor leaving the other sock and pair of shorts in a heap by his bed.  After he came running back past me with a "Oh, I hope she didn't see those shorts" look on his face... I asked him to once again take his dirty clothes to the laundry chute.  I know I shouldn't be surprised by his reaction, but I was.  "MOM!!  I don't have time to do this!!  My friends are out there waiting for me." You would think by 13 he would understand that I kind of mean business with my requests??!!??  I merely told him that he needed to take the time to do things right the first time and just think of all the time he would have had!!  This is the same principle with homework, or laundry or dishes or a project for science.  DO THINGS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!  In the long run, think of all the time you'll save!!  

Funny phone call!?!?!

I found myself answering my "thefamilycompass" calls today when a gentleman caught my attention.  He told me he was blind, unable to work and was looking for a free boarding school.  I asked him how old his child was and what issues he was experiencing.  He proceeded to tell me he had a 17 year old son who wouldn't attend school, was smoking marijuana, and staying out all night.  After a few minutes of me explaining that the schools we worked with were private and had no state funding, he then  proceeded to tell me again that he was blind and needed help paying for tuition.  The very next sentence out of his mouth was this  "I'm reading right here on your  "thefamilycompass"  site the EXACT issues I'm having with my son...."  any my listening stopped there...  he was reading right down our bulleted list ...  "family conflict" ... "blatant disregard of rules" ... "withdrawn from family" ...  and continues right on down ...  Anyone see a problem with this???  He had either had a MIRACULOUS recovery OR I guess computer screens have come along ways!!  They now have a braille feature.  (: