Mothering Many

This tip is as much for me as for ya’ll. I’ve been meaning to do it, so maybe this post will get me off my can. When you assign your children a room to clean, leave them a checklist. It’s easy to overlook sweeping the kitchen when it’s late and you are tired, but if the checklist is tucked discreetly inside a cabinet door, you’ll have a little reminder. A little “employee self evaluation” before they come tell you they are done can keep you from appearing to be an ogre. I’ve heard this reminder list works for big people, too. *cough, cough*

The guy from Family Movies called me this week. He always sounds like a recording, and he always starts with
“have we done something to offend you?” He actually called twice. He had called while I was teaching and after I said I was busy, he said it would only take a minute. Umm, no, busy is busy, and this reading lesson won’t wait, so I hung up on him. When I have a new reader, I DO NOT allow those earliest lessons to be interuppted. They are very short, less than 5 minutes some times, but they are foundational, so they are the most important thing for that amount of time. Then, he called at 8:30 in the morning. And while, really, no time is good for a solicitor, that was just over the top. Finally, I told him not to call back, and that yes, he had offended me by calling at that time. I really like the company, I really believe in what they try to do, but………..don’t give them your phone number, ok?

What kills me is that I got on their list because I bought from them. They didn’t buy my name from a list broker like Martin Worldwide, who makes it their business to create lists of people who are known responders to solicitations. No, they got my name because I heard about their product and called them first. And then they called and called, always at a bad time. So, they lose