Words are very powerful things. Amazingly powerful things.

On any given day, you can make or break someone's day simply by praising or criticizing them. We talk so much every day, I think we really underestimate the impact of our words.

However, we all know that there are times when our kids or our husband tunes us out or just ignores things we say. Yes, even my perfect husband and kids!

Here's something funny. They may ignore what you say, but the will almost always pay attention to something you have written down. Isn't that strange?

I've done this many times. I wish I could say that I'm one of those Moms who puts loving, encouraging notes in their lunch boxes, and creates those wonderful Hallmark moments. But that's just not the way we roll.

My written words are more likely to be do-to lists or other notes. But the important thing is that they get results.

I will typically leave notes like - "This must be put away by 5:00 today." "Please sweep and mop the floors today." "Please do not leave dishes on the counter." "You may not put mail on the table - please put in the mail basket."

Or I will leave a honey-do list on the white board for little things I need my husband to do. Even if I've verbally asked him to do the exact same things, he won't actually do them until I put them on the board.

Isn't that weird? Oh well, we have a strange and unique relationship - he's strange and I'm unique (ha ha!).

Do you know who else this works for? Me. I will leave all kinds of notes for myself - "You are not allowed on the computer before 9:00 AM", "15 4 5" = 15 minutes of exercise for five days. "Be nice - Choose the soft answer"

Anyway, give it a try and see how it works for you. And be sure to thank your family when they comply with your requests. A little sincere gratitude helps a lot too.

Be sure and come back next Monday and Friday for the next installment in my Clutterbugs series. To see the rest of the series, just click the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of this post and it will bring up a list of them.



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