No one listens!

We have a super cute 1 year old, British Labrador, Willis.  He is a lab and a puppy which equals ENERGY.  The other day I wanted to really exhaust him so I decided to not only wear him out physically, but I thought I'd put his mental energy to the test by going over some of our obedience training.     Well... let's just say I didn't realize the bad habits he was getting into because he was not doing anything I was telling him to and I'm the alpha (or I thought I was). 


Isn't he just cute!

Later that same day my daughter was suppose to be cleaning up our office where the kids throw their school stuff- when I say throw I literally mean throw.  After 45 minutes I went to check on her, and there she was hiding under the desk playing on her phone- the office was still a mess!  Again my "alpha" status was called into question with her basically ignoring me and playing on her phone.  (don't worry, there was punishment)

UGH!  My kids don't listen to me, my dog doesn't listen.  Soooooo what to do??  I have tried a lot of different ways to help my kids- charts, goals, threats, incentives etc... Nothing sticks.  I have started to believe the only thing I am consistent in is being inconsistent.  It was a discouraging conclusion to come to.

One thing my husband pointed out to me was that it isn't failure, it's just that I haven't succeeded yet... wait what?  Sometimes it is hard to tell when my husband is kidding, although he wasn't this time around.  I thought about it and he is right.  There is a different mind set of failure vs. I'm not there yet.  I figure it's a good way to think about raising kids.  As many times as they don't listen and I feel like I can't hear myself nag one more time I have to remember I haven't failed.  Just a good reminder I thought I'd throw out there, hey it can apply to many aspects to our lives- kids, dogs, work, spouses, house work, etc  Good luck and keep trying!