Want to be a Better Negotiator? Get a Little Leverage!

Alex, our oldest, got one of those baseball things where the ball is basically on a tether; you spin it around and then practice hitting the ball. (I’m sure there is a technical name for it which is escaping me, but hopefully you know what I’m talking about.)  Anytime he gets something new he is consumed by it.  He spends all afternoon practicing his hitting.  It is actually really cute.  He’s up on the driveway and Gary’s teaching him how to step into the ball.  A definite father / son moment.

Fast forward to this morning.  I am getting ready for work and the boys are getting ready for school.  Given that they are 5 and 7, that usually involves a lot of flopping around and time wasting.  I can ask Alex to get his shoes and socks on and it will take him 20 minutes to get one sock on because he starts playing with toys in him room and gets distracted.  Cute, but annoying.  This morning, he was all excited to try his baseball toy again before leaving for school.  I told him that he needed to get ready on his own then for us to have enough time before we needed to leave.  Oh My Goodness!!!!  Not only did he get ready from start to finish in about 10 minutes (about 30 minutes faster than normal) but he even helped Ryan, his little brother, get ready.  It truly was a thing of beauty.  So Alex got to practice hitting and I got the boys off to school earlier than I have in months.  Amazing!

So now I am plotting my leverage for tomorrow.  Hmmm, the plot thickens.

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