Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Reverse Psychology

Here's a little phrase guaranteed to make even the most contentious siblings play peacefully together while creating long involved games full of imagination, for several hours at a stretch:

"I want that playroom cleaned by the time Daddy gets home."

4 comments:

BettyDuffy said...

This is no joke. If I need to get anything done, I send my kids to clean their room. They seem to figure that if they're playing peacefully and quietly enough, I won't catch on to the fact that they are NOT cleaning.

Heath Morber said...

Brilliant! I'll let my wife know!

mrsdarwin said...

I'm going to post on this in a few days, once I source the quotation, but someone told me that Bill Cosby said, "Parents aren't interested in justice, but quiet." I can't think of any non-religious statement that carries more truth.

Barb said...

Go on YouTube and watch some of Cosby's clips...absolutely hilarious! I do remember watching one of his stand-up routines about 25 years ago where he did say something similar to that statement. You might even find it on YouTube.