A Lesson in Psychology
Last night... TLP decided that he was going to annoy the entire family. He had a school assignment that he neglected to finish at school and the teacher sent it home for me to complete with him.
As soon as I saw the assignment... I completely understood. He was instructed to list four things that he was thankful for ... and draw a picture for each one. As we sat down at the table... I knew we were headed for trouble.
TLP moped and complained that he couldn't think of not even one thing in his life that he was thankful for. I tried to help him along a bit.
"Well... there are a lot of people in this world that are starving. We have plenty of food. Are you thankful that you have food?"
"NO!", he shot back at me rudely.
" Okay... well... what about the homeless people. They have no house to sleep in. Maybe you should be thankful that you have a nice warm house to sleep in every night."
"I wouldn't mind sleeping outside," came his reply.
Okay.... there would be no winning here today. I got up and walked over to finish the supper dishes.
"You figure it out yourself TLP," I said as I walked away.
TLP then jumped up out of his chair and took off running to his bedroom.
"I'm not doing this.... it's too hard!"
As he entered his bedroom... he took the opportunity to SLAM the door as hard as he could.
"Stop slamming the door young man," his father yelled from the livingroom.
TLP opened the bedroom door and slammed it again.
"I said... cut it out," Dad screamed out again.
You guessed it. The bedroom door repeatedly opened and slammed several more times.
The next thing I knew... the entire family was paying attention to TLP.
"STOP IT TLP," my daughter yelled out from the kitchen.
Be Quiet," my oldest son screamed from upstairs.
"What did I tell you?," his dad screamed... as if that was really going to help get him to stop.
I stood there smirking.
"Well.... he certainly became the center of attention again didn't he?," I said smiling.
I entered the hallway just in time to watch TLP glare at me... before slamming his bedroom door really hard.
"You are the WORST door slammer that I've ever heard in my entire life," I said loudly as I walked back towards the kitchen.
The house suddenly became very quiet.
"Have you ever heard anyone slam a door so poorly?," I asked my daughter as I walked back into the kitchen smiling.
"No... I haven't," she said as she smiled back at me with a curious look.
The house remained quiet... then TLP quietly entered the kitchen again.
"You need to go back to your room, " I said ever so seriously. "I want you to practice slamming your bedroom door... because you're not doing a very good job with that tonight."
TLP glared at me with a look of total defiance.
"No," he shot back at me.
I reached out and pointed towards his bedroom. "Get your behind in there and slam that door young man. I want to hear nothing but doors slamming for 10 minutes!"
TLP turned and walked into his bedroom, closing the door VERY quietly.
"You know," I said to my husband as I walked into the livng room. "If the boy's going to slam a door.... the least he can do is learn to slam it the right way."
I then walked over to TLP's room and stood there watching as he hesitantly slammed his bedroom door.
"Come on... slam that door harder," I said each time he slammed it closed. "You really do need the practice."
After several minutes... I walked away.
To my surprise... TLP walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"I need you to put your homework away. We're NOT going to do it tonight," I said.
"Why?," he asked looking rather puzzled.
"Well... because you're not thankful for anything and... if you're not thankful for anything.... you CAN'T do this assignment. So... just go put it away so you can get ready for your bath."
I turned and went back to washing the dishes. A few minutes later... to my surprise... I turned and saw that TLP was drawing a picture. Within minutes... the assignment was completed.
I am thankful for my house!
I am thankful for food!
I am thankful for books!
I am thankful for my family.
When TLP walked away to go take his bath... I turned to my daughter and smiled.
"Now you have a lesson to take to your psychology teacher tomorrow."
