Using Your Power For Good Instead of Evil

My children are a force of destruction. Sometimes, destruction can be a good thing. Wrecking balls have a purpose, after all. They are used to destroy old, dilapidated buildings so that new, modern, and more structurally sound buildings can be built. My children; however, choose to use their destructive powers for evil, rather than good.

This morning, I gave the boys fruit cups with mandarin oranges with their breakfast and then went into the living room to feed the baby. The next thing I know, I hear Simon say "Pill orange, Mama." I enter the kitchen to discover a sticky puddle all over the kitchen chair, the floor, the table, and my two-year-old, who proceeds to be seized by a sudden desire to wander about the house spreading his stickiness all over the place. I then spend the remainder of the morning wiping down the child and the house.

By the time I'm finished cleaning up from the breakfast demolition, it's time to make lunch. I busy myself with making a delicious and nutritious lunch for my darling children. I then call out, "Lunchtime!" Simon shows up, and as I'm lifting him onto his chair, I notice orange paint on his belly. Um. Yeah.

I go downstairs to find that my children have spread finger paint and pompoms all over the spare bedroom. All I can see is a Jackson Pollack design all over the bedroom in orange, accentuated by the bright colors of the pompoms.

If I wasn't so horrified, I would have taken a moment to appreciate the true artistry involved in creating such a mess.

I had to take a while to cool down before I could mete out consequences. I considered tarring and feathering them with finger paint and pompoms, but decided that I would end up being the one to clean them up afterward, and they probably would think it great fun, anyhow. I also considered forcing them to eat nothing but broccoli for dinner for a week, but that seemed cruel and unusual. Or at least cruel. So, I ended up taking away the iPad for a week. Which works out great for me, because now I don't have to share it, and I can play SimCity to my heart's content- at least when I'm not busy cleaning up after my children...

Truly, though. My children's destructive powers are amazing. Now, I wonder... How can I harness this power, and channel it into something good? Use it for good rather than evil? Any suggestions???


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