Thank You, Wally and The Beave

In an effort to upgrade my parenting skills, I decided I would like to study the wit, wisdom, and childrearing skills of June Cleaver. Thanks to connections, I was able to get my hands on the first season of “Leave It To Beaver”.

I don’t know that I’ve learned anything new from June, but rather reinforced my current state. You see, June can be quite snarky as she’s making umpteen sandwiches for the boys. She’s also good at giving Ward, Wally, and The Beave her version of The Look. The girls have pointed out that June is as mean a mama as I am.

The girls have been watching “Leave It To Beaver” with me. They’ve been enjoying it tremendously. Rachel now knows who Eddie Haskell is, so we can no longer get away with calling her “Eddie” when she decides its time to brown nose.

Watching “Beaver” has had an unintended benefit: the girls are getting along better than ever AND they are more helpful than usual.

For example, last Thursday I was drowning in things to do before Sarah’s Gotcha Day party. As I was contemplating my frantic state, I thought to ask the girls if they would like to help. I barely got the words out of my mouth before they were jumping all over, asking what they could do.

We’ve cooked, cleaned, wrapped, decorated, cleaned, wrapped, and cleaned some more. Without bad attitude on anyone’s part (including me — kid-done is good enough!). We’ve periodically taken breaks to watch an episode of “Beaver” or two. It’s been WONDERFUL. I’m hoping this new attitude lasts for a while.