This morning, Jon and I were both in bed, and our alarm clocks had just gone off. Neither of us wanted to get out of bed. I’ve already expressed to you how painful it is for us to get up in the morning, so this shouldn’t surprise you.

We’re almost like teenagers when it comes to sleep.

But since we’re grownups, we have responsibilities we can’t ignore.

What can I say, we take this parenting thing pretty seriously when it comes to our kids. They also insist on being on time to school.

The nerve of them.

The kids needed to be check on, to make sure they were up, and the dogs taken out.

Just two little jobs.

I know you’re thinking the girls are old enough to set their own alarm clocks, and they do. They also view getting up early just as we do: a painful experience we’re forced to endure. Because of this, we always check on them to make sure our children are somewhat coherent.

It’s like the blind leading the blind.

But this morning, neither Jon nor I wanted to get out of bed. We traded forms of bribery back and forth for a few minutes, and when we couldn’t resolve this impending problem, we did what we always do: we solved it by playing ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS.

Yep.

That’s how we solve problems in our household.

No need for dramatic, overly emotional, pleading monologues here. It’s just a round of a childish game. In this particular instance, we said one round, and the winner got to pick which job was more desirable.

I won, and I chose waking up the kids. That meant Jon got to take the dogs out.

When we’re facing a big issue, such as which movie to go see, or where we should go out for dinner, we might opt for three rounds, with the winner taking two. If there’s a tie, we play until a shining star emerges.

I love it when I hear my kids having a disagreement, and then I hear, “Fine, let’s just Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who wins.”

Life is filled with enough drama and stress, we don’t need to add to it by having insignificant, meaningless disagreements about silly things. The next time you find yourself in a situation where you’ve come to a standstill with someone, try this method.

It isn’t glamours. I didn’t read it in a parenting book. It doesn’t cost any money.

But, it works.

Every time.

And that’s all that matters.

Reduce the daily roadblocks in your life, shut the disagreements down, and Rock, Paper, Scissors your way out of little things. Don’t sabotage your peace and joy with negative energy and commotion. Play a game, compromise, and move on.

It really can be that simple.

Find meaning each day,

Dara