Organization Not a Priority

Being the good mother that I am, I was trying to model for Madeline how to be more organized. I said, "Madeline, come look how I organized my underwear drawer. See, I rolled them all up and put them in a neat row. You should try that with your underwear drawer."

Madeline immediately looked at me and replied, "Mom. Life's too short for me to be rolling up my underwear."

The secret to getting a kid to read

Madeline started reading the Harry Potter books when she was in second grade. By the time she was into third grade, she had read them all. Great job, Madeline!!!

Quinn had started them earlier but wasn't ready to spend the time needed to read them all until Madeline started catching up. Then he drove himself, staying up late to read to make sure that he stayed ahead of Madeline and finshed them ahead of her. Yea, Quinn!!!

The secret to getting a kid to read: have a younger sibling ready to get ahead of him or her.