As the story goes:

A few years ago, I was chatting with a stranger in a bar. When I told him I was an economist, he said, “Ah. So… what are the Two Things about economics?”
“Huh?” I cleverly replied.
“You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”
“Oh,” I said. “Okay, here are the Two Things about economics. One: Incentives matter. Two: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

So, here are the two things about being a Mom:

1. Choose your battles
2. If it does not hurt your children or someone/something else, it’s probably okay if they try it.

I need practice in both of those areas. It’s real super easy to get caught in the ‘gotta get it done now’ or the ‘for Christ’s sake kid, just do what I’m tellin ya’ mode. It seems like I am endlessly hollering at my kids. When, in the grand scheme of things, 98% of the crap I holler at them about is really unimportant.

There are things I think are important for a parent to do or teach that… say… my parents do not find to be a big deal:

Getting them to eat their dinner as it is served to them, being one of those things. *Sometimes* my dad is on board with this, but my mom is hardly ever helpful in this area. But the weird thing is, I can’t remember one time her ever making 3 different meals for dinner because I didn’t like meatloaf or my brother didn’t want pork. (or whatever) But she thinks it is totally sensible for ME to do that. I’ll be making dinner, say Baked Chicken, and my mom will mosey into the kitchen and ask, “What are the kids having?” “Ummmm, dinner.” That usually does not sit well with her, thus propagating their ‘edible’ food list to 7 things. TOTAL. If it is not pizza or formed into a chicken nugget they will not eat it. sigh…

This is one battle that I think is worth fighting. Food is important… but it is more important for me to only waste time making ONE meal that they will refuse to eat instead of 3 meals they will refuse to eat.

There are other things in that area I could list, but this post is not an attack on my parents.

Here are ‘two things’ I need to improve upon as a parent… (this list is by no means exhaustive…)
1. THINK about what I say to my children before I say it. Make a habit of it.
2. Pick one thing everyday to say ‘yes’ to instead of ‘no’. Odds are it will be fun for them.