Odd and Even

I mentioned previously that I am a new mom so I am playing catch up on many concepts and ideas to make life easier for my expanding family. Although my kids are still young, 21 months and 2 months, it is never too early to identify a plan for settling those much-anticipated arguments. With my kids being only 19 months apart I am prepared for my boys to “love to hate” each other.

Recently I was in conversation with someone I met at a work function, not expecting to receive parenting advice. However, with the topic of having a newborn on my mind, it was sure to creep into the conversation. The man I was speaking with has two elementary school aged children and proclaimed to have the best advice for me to be summed up in three simple words “odd and even”. He could see I was perplexed and preceded to ask the birthdates of my two sons, “Jan 26 and June 15” I responded.

Although not a prerequisite to the odd and even theory, it certainly helps settle the initial argument of who takes odds and who takes evens. The concept is that all differences are settled upfront because with two boys, Cole, born on an even day, he gets to choose what we do on even days of the year and Brice, born on an odd day gets to choose what we do on odd days of the year. What cereal should we buy, what should we have for dinner, which park should we visit, what game should we play, what should we have for dessert, who picks the story? Such simple questions that are sure to cause confrontation amongst two young boys will now be easily settled. For an odd numbered day, Brice chooses and for an even numbered day, Cole chooses.

Ingenious! I know I won’t need to leverage this concept for a while, at least until both my boys can speak and begin to realize they have choices. However, I can breath a sigh of relief knowing that I already have a solution to address everyday confrontations associated with differing opinions and desires. I recognize that the odd and even theory is not the answer to all things, but introducing the concept early in my boys’ lives will hopefully help alleviate many of the everyday battles that could erupt.

If you have more than two kids, perhaps there are other similar concepts you can use to generate your own “odd and even” theory.

What other life changing theories are out there that I can store up now for when my boys get older? Care to share?