My Question of the Day for 31 August 2010 – UPDATED
| Listen to the question here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
My Question of the Day: You have two children, and they have two different personalities. One child, we’ll call him/her Sydney, does what you ask him/her to do when you ask it to be done and without delay. The other child, we’ll call him/her Shelby, waits until the last minute and/or right before your last straw to do what you ask him/her to do and/or to get things done.
One Saturday, you leave your two children home with a list of things for each child to accomplish during the day, and when you come home you see that both children have done everything they were supposed to do. Both children ask if they can go out with friends, and you tell them they can. However, you notice that Sydney isn’t happy about your decision. When you ask him/her what’s wrong, he/she explains to you that Shelby waited until about 30 minutes before you came home to do everything on the list while he/she (Sydney) did his/her part of the list immediately after you assigned the tasks. Sydney doesn’t think it’s fair that Shelby should get the same reward?
What do you think?
My 2 Cents: I can understand Sydney’s frustration with Shelby, but mom/dad didn’t give any directive about how much time had to be devoted to accomplishing the tasks.
Both children should get the same reward. Apologies, Sydney.
———-
The commentary doesn’t have to end!
Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.
———-
RULES FOR COMMENTS
1. DO NOT include links in your post. There is a place for you to include one link when you’re filling out the Name/Email/Website information. Comments that include links will be deleted.
2. If your post is obviously irrelevant to the question at hand, it will be deleted. This is a tactic spammers use to simply show up on blogs.
3. Please keep your comments respectful. We can agree to disagree without attacking each other.
| NEW! Don’t feel like typing? Driving and can’t type? No worries! Call 904-4MY-QOTD (904-469-7683) and leave your comment by voicemail! Yes, that’s right! You can now call in your comment to My Question of the Day. Your audio comment will be posted to the blog just like a written comment. Please refrain from profanity or hate-filled, derogatory talk. Such comments will not be included on the My Question of the Day blog. I reserve the right NOT to include your voicemail comment if it happens to be irrelevant to the subject at hand. |
This happened a lot with my siblings and I when we were growing up. My sister HATED doing chores and always put them off for as long as possible. I hated that. I explain to both of the children that they both get to go out with their friends this time but that I expect both of them to complete their chores on my time table the next time.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeI would tell Sydney that THIS TIME, they both got chores done before I came home. Then maybe next time, come back earlier than expected and reward the sibling who has completed chores.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeI would explain that I only asked for the tasks to be completed before I got home. I would then explain that I know they operate on two different pages. I would then highlight the pros about them both.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeI’d tell Sydney ‘snitches get stitches’. No one likes a tattletale.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeThey both did what they were asked to do and I would make sure Shelby understood that. I would also be sure to highlight the fact that getting things done sooner rather than later is always the smarter move. Sydney got lucky this time, but things don’t usually work out that way when you wait until the last minute.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeAs long as both children did what I asked BEFORE I got home, I don’t care if they did it when they woke up, or two minutes before I walked in the door. Unless I gave a specific directive on a time frame, I don’t care that one did it as soon as s/he could and the other waited until the last minute. They both still get rewarded and that one who’s unhappy really needs to focus on something else.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeSure she should. You never gave them a timeframe and both completed the task to your likeling thus both should get their reward.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislikeI just explain that I’m proud of Shelby for not waiting until the last minute but Sydney DID end up doing the work even though it was 30 min before I came home. They both deserve the reward because they both completed the tasks just like I asked.
Was this answer helpful?
LikeDislike