Over lunch, the kids were griping a bit about how the winter vacation is too short, and how it should be MUCH longer! The vacation should be several weeks, or months, or even years! Imagine that!
So Mr Evil Coach Dad decided to try an idea on them 🙂
Me: “I have an idea for an experiment” (kids like experiments)
Kids: “What?”
Me: “How about if one of you stays in school for the full 12 years, as planned”
Kids: “And what about the other?”
Me: “… and the other one of you gets to leave school permanently, and stay home and do whatever you want. Watch TV, play games, eat candy, stay up as late as you want, etc. No school ever again. And then, in 15 years or so, we follow up with both of you and find out who is having a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life. How about that experiment? We’ll learn if school is worth going to! So who wants to take on which role?”
The kids responded immediately:
“I want to be in school!”
“No, ME! I want to be in school”
“No, ME! I said it first! I stay in school!”.
… and so on…
So we had to call off the experiment, nobody wanted to take on the stay-at-home role. That was a pleasant surprise! Not sure how I would have gotten out of this one otherwise 🙂
LOL. I wish my dad had been like that.
Or maybe you’re lucky he wasn’t. Might have made you a dropout 🙂
Not sure my toddler would agree, the prospect of unlimited chocolate would be to strong an incentive.
Perhaps this says something about the level of maturity in the decision making..
Wondering about repeating the experiment with devs not testing/devs testing.
Would the devs that don’t have to test be happier and more fulfilled supporting an app than those who did test it.
😀
James
Nice one. But you wasted the silver bullet. Next time they will recognize the pattern and will be the last one they will back up. Kids are really fast learners 😉
I regularly think of this experiment.
I do think it’s important for people to know that your kids had already an experiment of 1 year of traveling and home schooling.
Aka they knew what it was, to not see their friends for about a year….