Failure #47

My failures always seem pretty clear in hindsight. Take #47 for example.

It’s a Thursday (school) night, about 8:45. Annika is getting ready for bed, so I’m at the computer working. Andrea is on the phone – in Annika’s room! – with her parents. It’s my excuse, but I found this irritating for Andrea to be on the phone (her parents called) this late on a school night in Annika’s bedroom.

Annika comes downstairs – she doesn’t know what to do – and asks me about multiplication.

This is where I failed.

This is what I did: we went over a multiplication problem at my computer, then she walked away and I continued working. Later (5 mins) I notice she is on the couch with Kino, waiting for Mama to get off the phone. I (irritatingly, my work is being interrupted) get up and say “let’s go to bed Annika, I’ll go with you”. She starts to cry, says she wants to go to bed with Mama, and it goes downhill from there.

This is what I should have done: seen that she is bored/lost, I should have stepped away from the computer. Do some math. Then gently suggested her and I go lie down in her bed. This would have been controlled, positive, paced slowly, and quality time.

My biggest issue in Salzburg – bigger than in Tahoe, although the problem is there too – is that I am half occupied when I am at my work desk, and in Salzburg my work desk is in the middle of everything. I need to go there when I need to work, and not be there when I can’t/shouldn’t work. If there is contention for my attention, I need to step away from the desk. Otherwise I will fail.