Some Little Details

About a week ago, little Miss Mackenzie called us on the telephone. She does this fairly often and her calls are usually to just say hello or tell us about something she had just accomplished. A week ago, however, was a little different.

She asked Gee if Papa was there... Gee told her "yes"...

Kenzie then asked, "How is my dollhouse?"

Gee was a little confused and didn't know where this line of questioning was headed but cautiously replied, "Your dollhouse is fine, why?"

Kenzie then asked about the wreath and whether it was hanging on the front door of her dollhouse yet. In the end, she told Gee, "Tell Papa I want the wreath on the door the next time I come over!" 

It was a bit funny but, truth be told, I don't let anyone tell me or order me to do something. If someone asks me to do something for them, I will do it. If someone thanks me for doing that favor, I will jump at any request in the future but nobody gets to order me to do something. This is right from my own Leadership 101 handbook. Ask politely and then thank them for helping and you will succeed. Being annoying and bossy...  nobody will ever want to do anything for you.

So, I wanted to turn this into some sort of teachable moment... about the power of asking and then thanking. My plan was to leave the wreath unhung... but to collect the tools and supplies necessary for this little project so it would be ready to go when she arrived. When she would later arrive at the house and then complain about no wreath on the front door, I would have a great opportunity to explain about being bossy and demanding vs asking and thanking. Then I would ask her to help me hang this wreath on the front door of her dollhouse and then thank her for her help. 

Well... at this point, too much time has passed and I needed a little project to keep me busy so I went ahead and hung the wreath this morning. I could have used an extra little hand though. It was a bit tough holding the front door closed from the inside of the dollhouse while I drilled four holes on the outside of the door. There was more room to drill from outside than to try to drill on the inside so I had to drill from the outside. I managed on my own though. I was able to reach through the back of the dollhouse to hold the door closed while I drilled from the outside. I would have preferred Kenzie's help though.

After drilling a few holes, I pushed a couple of short pieces of floral wire through the holes to secure the wreath on the front door... twisted them tight... snipped off the ends... bent down the sharp, pointy twisted ends... and now the wreath is hung!

I guess the teachable moment will have to wait until her next rather bossy demand...