Helping our kids discover new talents

Love and Logic is made for moments like this:

Mom!! There's a flood in the bathroom!!" Words every parent hates to hear especially first thing in the morning.

Running into the bathroom, I discover nearly an inch of water on the floor. Luckily, the kid had the presence of mind to turn the water off at the toilet.

Grabbing towels by the handfuls, we start sopping and mopping. The urge to be really mad is overwhelming. Empathy is difficult in moments like this. "What a bummer" just doesn't seem strong enough. So, I manage to squeak out something like, "Awww maann! This is a BIG mess! Geez. I hope it doesn't ruin the walls..." Sop, sop, mop...

I have to admit my husband did a better job of not reacting. He walked in, took one look, saw that we had it handled and walked back out without a word.

We got it mopped up and thought that was the end of it. My son was responsible for getting all of the wet towels and rugs washed.

Then, the other words a parent hates to hear after a flood in the upstairs bathroom: "Mom! The stairs are all wet!" Uh oh. Water was creeping through the ceiling and dripping on the stairs. Lovely.

My son says, "Oh man. Fixing this is gonna cost me my whole allowance." Sop, sop, mop... It was really hard not to say, "Yeah- for an entire YEAR!"

Luckily, Love and Logic saved me again. I knew that it was okay to delay the consequences. I didn't have to make any life-altering parental decisions right now. Besides, I was too busy sopping, mopping, and now blotting (the drywall)...

Jake felt really bad about putting too much toilet paper down. Apparently, we've done a pretty good job of raising kids who solve their own problems. He tried to solve this one himself by re-flushing twice while the bowl slowly filled up and over the brim. Thankfully, he knew where the water turn off was located, he just didn't know which direction to turn it. The second try worked like a charm...

We briefly went through the mechanics of how toilets work and now he knows not to do that again. He offered to pay for any damage and we let him off the hook. He was very remorseful and everyone makes mistakes. In this case, the natural consequences were certainly enough to do the teaching.

Then I heard music to my parental ears, "Hey Mom! I think I discovered another talent." What's that dear?" "Doing laundry!"