How do you know Dadnamics works? Simple. Does your child actually WANT to go with you to the bank? In my case… “Yes! Please, dad. Can I go?”
Now, you may ask. What’s your secret? How do you get your kids to want to come to the bank with you?
I’m SO glad you asked. Let me take you back in time to when I was 6-years-old. And mom, if you’re reading this, I love you but I gotta tell it the way it was!
There was a store that my mom used to take me called Clothes To You. Basically, it was T.J. Maxx and Marshalls before they were as popular. I don’t even know if this store was a chain, but all the moms went there, or so it seemed. My mom was no exception.
She would allow me the opportunity to watch her shop discount clothes racks, and then watch some more. It was dreadful. Very dreadful. It was so bad that one night my mom came running into my room. “Kenny, what’s wrong!? Why are you crying?”
“Mom, I had a nightmare.”
“I’m so sorry honey. What was it about?”
“You, you… you took me to Clothes To You!”
That story has been a family inside joke for 30 years now and we still laugh about it. But let me take you inside my head during these dreadful visits. After 20 minutes of walking around the clothing racks and counting my times and laps, I would get bored. Thus, I climbed into the clothes rack, between the clothes where nobody could see me. I would sit in the middle while my mom slid sweaters and skirts from north to south (or east to west, not sure). Anyway, I would imagine myself inside of my favorite cartoons or TV shows to escape that dreadful store. It kept me occupied for a little while until I was forced out of my inner sanctuary and into the fitting rooms with a shopping cart full of clothes for my mom to try on. Yay!
Nevertheless, this brief mind lapse into another world taught me the first principle of Dadnamics.
[pullquote align=”normal”]You can create an adventure around anything, no matter how boring. [/pullquote]
Back to our bank deposit. “Kolby, after we finish this deposit, do you want to get some tea and play?”
“Yeah!”
There you have it. The deposit was quick. The tea line was short and the playroom was empty. What else could you ask for? Well… if you must know. How about a bigger deposit???
