The 55% rule in parenting kindy kids

How to wrangle tinies and still get out the door on time

It was the morning of my twin sons’ first day of kindy. Of course I wanted to make a good first impression. The boys were dressed and they’d managed to eat breakfast without spilling it all over themselves. The lunchboxes were labelled, their bags were packed and, I’d even managed to shower and make myself presentable for work. It was T minus 2 minutes until we would walk out that front door, when one of the boys decided to grab the Vicks Vaporub from the bathroom cabinet and plaster his hair with it.

In 10 seconds, he managed to make it look like I hadn’t washed his hair in months. And the smell – let’s just say anyone within 20 paces of him would have the clearest of sinuses. Goodbye, great first impression!

I was horrified. I didn’t want him going to kindy looking like he hadn’t bathed.

This was the perfect opportunity to break out my 55% rule approach – a 55% effort would be more than enough effort in this case. There was no time for perfect – this was all about getting the job done and heading out the door.

I knew I had to think fast: no time for washing hair, not worth the hassle of getting him into the shower (which he would object to both verbally and physically), so I quickly grabbed a washer and scrubbed off as much as I could. Then I slicked his hair over and gave him a super smooth Don Draper-style do for the day. With 55% effort, I managed to avoid tantrums, crying and yelling (and that was just from me). Sure, he still smelled like a koala’s breakfast, but you can’t have everything.

The more responsibilities we have (kids, business, work, oh, and life) the more plates we need to spin. And the more plates we’re spinning, the higher the possibility is of a great crash. That’s when we really need the 55% rule.

How could you apply the 55% rule in your family life?