Ready to Roll!

Anyone with kids probably knows that a little excitement around even the simplest of tasks will go a long way toward motivating them to do the task.  “Alright, let’s go take a fun bath and get in our jammies… woo hoo!” followed by a fist pump is more likely to elicit some movement toward the bathroom than a simple “it’s time for baths” will.  “Okay, let’s pick up these toys that you’ve thrown all over the place, put them where they belong and then we’ll have some yummy ice cream… yippee!” is more likely to get a positive response than “you can have ice cream if you pick up and put away all of your toys.” 

So when the Leatherman family leaves the house, it’s typically triggered by an enthusiastic and loud, “Are you ready to roll, Leathermans?!?!!!”  delivered by Dan or me.  Too many times we’ve broken a sweat (literally) and our spirits lugging our stuff and the kids out the door, battling their uncooperativeness and whines.  Life is so much better when they walk themselves out.  More recently, we introduced a more specific, “Are you ready to roll, Leatherkids?!?!!!”  The question is barely finished being asked, and everyone’s already marching toward the door, focused on one thing: getting out of the house with smiles on our faces.  No kidding – smiles and cooperation almost every time.

Last week, Cal started asking the question, directed only to Ella – her response was priceless and has continued into this week:

Cal: “Are you ready to roll, Leatherman, Ella?!?!!!”

Ella <leaning forward, arms stretched out behind her back>: “Yyyeeeaaaahhhh!”

Cal: “Are you ready to roll, Leatherman, Ella?”

Ella <leaning forward, arms stretched out behind her back>: “Yyyeeeaaaahhhh!”

Aaahhh… even better when we don’t even need to ask the question ourselves.

I'm always a little late in capturing video of quality Leatherkid moments, but I did manage to capture some of the typical scene the other day (note Cal's whispered question that still gets a response out of Ella):