"Jungle Sally"

For those of you who don't know, we have recently adopted a third child. It was kind of on a whim, but we realize now that we needed her as much as she needed us. But three kids has actually turned out to be more of an adjustment than we originally thought it would be. She is just three years old and is unfortunate REALLY wild. She just absolutely destroys our house, screams at the top of her lungs regularly, never says please or thank you, is EXTREMELY mean to Preston, and doesn't listen to a thing I say. As a result of her uncivilized behavior, Adelyn and I have affectionately named her "Jungle Sally."

During these last few weeks, I have given Adelyn the responsibility to help keep Sally tame and to clean up after her when she makes big messes. Adelyn also volunteered to teach Sally to be nice to Preston and share her toys; to say please and thank you; and to not scream or whine. It is working out quite well and I have only occasionally had to send Sally outside to sleep with her jungle friends.

Okay, so we don't really have a new wild third child. But our little imaginary family scape goat has given me an opportunity to help make my real three-year old aware of her mistakes without causing her to feel blamed or picked on. And amazingly, "Jungle Sally" really has become more tame in the process. Isn't it neat what a little imagination can do. . .