My youngest daughter has achieved the rank of Captain on her elementary school’s patrol group. If you remember from your grade school days, these are the kids walking around with the florescent belts that maintain order, stop kids hyped up on sugar from acting foolish, and bring the hammer down on those running in the halls. Since she is in 6th grade, she serves in a leadership role as well. Recently, she had to prepare a speech to give to new parents at the school so they would understand particulars for next year.
When do you think I heard about the need for this speech? If you guessed the day before it was due, then you too must be a parent. Actually, it was the night before it was due.
I had just picked her and her older sister up and we were heading home when she dropped the bombshell. She had to give a speech to a group of parents on the processes and procedures for dropping off kids at the school’s Kiss and Ride. We were driving, it was late, and by the time we would get home she would be getting sleepy and less productive. Time to start working in the car!
How do you orchestrate constructing a speech in the car on the way home with two kids? Here is the general strategy I used to pull it off.
First – Assign Roles
 |
The Creator – This had to be my youngest. She was the one doing the speech and she was the one with the institutional knowledge. |
 |
The Scribe – Someone needed to write down all the good information that would be flowing and they had to be quick. I was driving so I couldn’t do it. My youngest needed to be free to let the creativity flow. I looked over at my oldest in the passenger seat texting away on her phone…BINGO! Who better than a teen with Thumbs of Fury? |
 |
The Orchestrator – That would be me. Someone needed to keep the topic focused, come up with a general outline and approach for the speech, and pull the ideas out of the little one while making sure the oldest was capturing the brilliance. |
Second – Get to Work
I started at the beginning of the process with my youngest. She needed to start the speech with a little introduction of who she is, what authority she has, and why anyone should listen to her. We then walked the entire process of Kiss and Ride, making sure we got all the relevant details, while my oldest furiously typed in her iPhone Notes app. It was a fully collaborative triangle of activity that showed excellent teamwork and family bonding.
Third – Finish Strong
By the time we got home, the speech was written. I sent the notes from my daughter’s phone to my email where I could quickly format, clean up, and print as note cards. She was all set to go to bed, with a killer speech and no stress.
While this instance involved a speech, the same sort of approach could be used to tackle other last minute assignments with your kids. If you find yourself in a crunch with an imminent assignment, there are some things you can do to accomplish what may seem overwhelming.
First, figure out how you are going to attack the problem. This may include looking to others to leverage their particular skills. Then, organize and outline what needs to be done and how you will accomplish the task. Make sure you capture information throughout the process and take notes to record all the details. Collaborate and use each other to explore the topic, identify important points, and to make sure you hit all the necessary topics. Finally, finish strong by making sure you have the final output ready to go and all participants are satisfied and prepared to execute.
Engaging your kids in these type of ad hoc accelerated sessions should hopefully help them later in life when they find themselves under the gun at work with a looming deadline and a small team working together late at night.
What tips or tricks have you used in the past, or what methods do you employ, when your kids throw assignments at you at the last minute?
Leave a Reply