Babysitting = RESPONSIBILITY

My kids are obsessed with their stuffed animals and this is just a small portion of the ones we own. They love to take them everywhere, trips out of town, in the car, to the park, to friends houses, needless to say we have had our fair share of arguments about these animals especially the giant ones. They all have their own names. I love the creativeness and imagination that goes into each of their stuffed animals names and playtime with them. The boys and I get along best when we both respect each other and when they show me obedience, first off! Of course that's probably how most people get along the best I would guess. Anyway they were being very responsible and I could hear them instigating an idea to gather all of their stuffed animals and drag them downstairs to watch a movie with them. Only they were acting like they were babysitting/in charge of all the animals and asked each animal if they thought that would be fun! Usually (the Old Me) I am driven crazy by the fact that they drag them all over my house and leave the mess scattered. But, something felt different this time and I think its because we are on a mentor/student level and not a teacher/student level. I feel that they are showing more responsibility so I overheard the boys say, "Lets ask mom if thats okay if we take the animals down so they can watch a movie." Wow, can you say magic to my ears! I was amazed at the difference in my mood because of the responsibility and respect that I felt from my 5 and 7 year olds. I pleasantly answered them "Yes, and maybe if you practice babysitting the animals then you can get better and babysit the girls when your a little older." They thought that was great and I was able to continue my day without an argument (so far, fingers crossed) we are taking this one moment at a time. But I like what I'm seeing so far!