The Mighty Power of Distraction

Johnny has acquired a few new-found obsessions: 1.) throwing the dogs’ food across the kitchen floor and over-turning their water bowl, 2.) tugging the television power cord out of the wall socket, and 3.) pulling all the Blu-ray discs off their shelf one-by-one. For babies his age, there’s really only one good way to discourage unwanted behavior- distract them! I try to pull Johnny away from whatever detrimental activity he’s engaged in and find him a better, more positive focus of play. It’s not always an easy thing to do, especially with babies as stubborn as Johnny. When he sees something he wants, he is determined to get it! But with the right amount of creativity (and sometimes a cracker or two) I’m usually able to divert his attention elsewhere and engage him in an acceptable form of entertainment.

Amazingly enough, I’ve learned that a similar type of technique can be used on adults. In case you're ever trying to get someone to do something that they really don't want to do, I've got some advice- distract them!

Like a child, I have been dragging my heels this entire week because I’m so reluctant to move. I have never EVER been so disinclined to do something as I have been to prep and pack for Virginia. I have been in real anguish every step of the way. But thankfully some of my friends intervened and helped me hurdle my emotional obstacles. They offered me some positive distractions.

On Thursday the kids and I were invited to spend the morning with my friend Chrissy at her parents’ lake house on Lake George. I hesitated to accept the offer at first because I’d originally planned to spend the entire day cleaning, organizing, and packing, but the opportunity to shirk my dreaded responsibilities and enjoy time with friends instead was just too good to pass up. So I said, “Let’s do it!” and off we caravanned. At one point I feared that I’d made an immature decision and I worried that I’d regret it in the end when I was far behind on my ‘To Do’ list. But in reality, the opposite turned out to be true. I was so motivated to get away for a couple hours that I found myself being extra productive when I was home, to make-up for the time I’d be gone. The morning before we left for the lake I got up and immediately started working, then after we got home my other friends, Joy and Emmeline, came over to help me pack and we hit the ground running. I scratched chore after chore off my list that day, far more than I think I ever would have accomplished had I stayed home. Between all that productivity and the perfection of our lake trip, Thursday turned out to be one heck of an awesome day!

So now that I’ve realized the mighty power of distraction, I am using it to my advantage. I made a quick phone call and managed to pull together a last-minute plan to meet up with some friends tonight. Looking forward to that gave me the distraction I needed to accomplish more chores today. As I was scrubbing sandboxes on the lawn and hauling trash from the basement I was thinking to myself, “Keep going, Jennifer. You get to see Kelly tonight!” as opposed to what I would have been thinking, which would have been, “This sucks! I hate my life.” Yep, distraction is a very powerful, very positive thing.

And with that I would like to thank all my wonderful friends for being such motivational distractions. You are the only thing keeping me going!