In our house, we have the (fairly standard) rule of “no potty talk at the table.”
LP loves to push the boundaries on this one. With a glint in her eye, she’ll ask me questions for which the answer is pee or poop (for example, “Why do we walk dogs?” and “What did the dogs do on the living room floor when no one let the dogs out?”).
The other night after I reminded her of the rule, she looked at me crossly and said, “Then no monkeys!” Just moments before, ImprovDad and I had been imitating monkeys although I can’t recall why.
Much as I hate to give up monkeying at the table, it seems fair and, more importantly fun, to incorporate LP’s rules into the picture. So I said, “Okay now we have two rules at the table. No potty talk and no monkeys.” Then I asked ImprovDad if he wanted to set a rule and he said very seriously, “No talking about toasters.”
LP & I have had rule setting discussions in the past but they have always been a serious kind of talk. I had not thought of playful rule setting before. It lightened up my job of enforcing the rules and we had a playful time skating near the edge of each of our rules and reminding each other about them. I’m going to remember to do this (the I set a rule and you set a rule) on purpose in the future as a playful way to get buy in from LP about rules.
What rules have your little people come up with?
I love it when your blog helps me be a better parent, and I can’t wait till you put all this down in book form and sell it like hotcakes on a cold day.
Thank you, Kris. That means a lot to me and I hope your vision of my book comes true!
Dear improvamama: I am in AWE of your beautiful, thoughtful, energetic, imaginative, expressive, loving, heartfelt, [etc....] creativity, and your unselfish, open, desire to share so much of your own personal experiences as you move through them, so that others may explore their own paths in “playful parenting”. I agree with Kris! Yes! …to visioning a book, to reach more potential improvaparents!
Thank you, Marjorie. That is a beautiful and quite a “wow” of a response. And you coined a new term – improvaparents! love it!