Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday

Here we go.  Another Wednesday and another dilemma... testing to see whether you can take a creative principle and apply it to your situation.  I'll present the principle and then take a crack at solving a dilemma on my mind.  Then it's your turn.

Principle... Reverse.

"Reversing how you look at a situation can open up new possibilities and dislodge assumptions. Example: when everyone else is gazing at a glorious sunset, why not turn around to see the blues and violets behind you?  What do you notice when you look at a coffee cup?  Its design or color?  Reverse your focus and look at the space inside - that's what gives it its functional value. Example: spend a minute describing a current problem.  If you're a male, describe it from the female view point.  If you're a female, do the reverse.  How can you reverse the way you look at your idea?" 

Dilemma... We are fortunate enough to have employed a housekeeper to come to our house each week.  The woman is lovely and does IMPECCABLE work... when she shows up.  In the four months she has been employed, she has no-showed five times.  As many of you know excellent housekeepers are hard to come by and, as I said, when she shows up there is nobody better.  The problem... the decision to keep her, spotty attendance and all, or let her go and risk not replacing her or replacing her with someone far less hardworking?

Hmmm... let me reverse my focus.  We have budgeted money each week to pay the housekeeper.  So, on the weeks she does not show up our family has disposable income. To me the house might look slightly dustier and the windows more smudged, but to the boys who probably don't notice anyway, there is extra money to do things such as take the family bowling, out for dinner, or to see a newly released movie (all items included in our Fun In A Box Friday - see 2/29 blog).  Reverse the focus on her absence.  Instead, focus on the other two or three weeks of each month that she does show up.  She isn't doing the cleaning, but nothing bad can come from the boys pitching in and helping tidy the house (above and beyond their existing chores).  Things don't always go as planned and this is a good lesson for them to learn at a young age.

Today is Wednesday, the day my house keeper is supposed to come.  Will she or won't she, that is the question.  Tune in tomorrow and I'll let you know.  We could bet, but if she shows up, I won't have the money to pay out.  

Signing off until tomorrow...