There's many times that I catch myself doing or saying things that I immediately wished I had said or done it differently.  For example, yesterday my kids wanted to go outside to play so I dressed them up in their snowpants, winter boots, mitts, toques, etc. and then proceeded to attend to my 6 month old (Summer) who had just woken up and wanted to be fed so was screaming in the background.  Just as I picked Summer up, Jaeden (my 4 yr. old daughter) started banging on the door.  I was a little irritated from all the screaming from Summer and the fact that Jaeden had JUST gone out so I opened the door up and said in an irritated voice, "What?"  I was so saddened because when I had first opened the door she had a big smile on her face and then when I answered her with a rude, "What?" her little smile turned into a sad crushed look.  I felt AWFUL!  It was one of those moments where you'd do anything to take it back.  I apologized and told her I didn't answer the door very nicely and that the next time she knocked, I would answer more politely.  Luckily, she was graceful enough to give me a second chance and the next time I answered in a very friendly fashion,  "Yes?  What would you like?".

So you're probably wondering, "What does this have to do with trying a Groundhog?"  Well, I subscribed to the 'FamilyFun' magazine and received my first copy today.  It is SO good!!  I would highly recommend it even from the first issue.  Anyways, besides having other great ideas, the magazine had an article written by one Mom's (Ani Tuzman) idea to turn bad habits into good without 'nagging' or 'hounding'.  I think it's a wonderful idea and intend to try it out for myself.  She was having trouble with getting her son to do something and it seemed that no amount of pleading, ignoring, or thanking would change his behavior.  One day (after watching the show 'Groundhog Day') she came up with the novel idea of saying, "Want to try a Groundhog?"  What she was referring to was what happened on the movie;  Murray's character had to go through the same day over and over until he goes through the day doing everything right with consideration towards others around him when he's finally free to continue on with life. (It's a very cute movie if you haven't seen it).  So what her family ended up doing (after the new trend caught on) was that anytime they did something that they wished they had done differently, they would simply  do it again but do it right.  She found that their actions and attitudes were starting to change without having to go back and do it a second time.

So back to the case with my daughter banging on the door.  Even though I didn't term it 'trying a Groundhog', I essentially did the same thing by apologizing and then doing it over.  Jaeden knocked on the door a couple of times after that first time and even though I was in the middle of washing the dishes the third time she knocked, (and my attitude was still a little annoyed....) I still went over and politely answered saying, "Yes?  What would you like?"   Now that I've got the action worked out, Lord help me with my attitude!!  :)