[email protected]

In a message dated 7/22/2006 8:02:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

Tell me why I NEED to shut it off and not pick this silly battle.<<<<<

Do you need to shut them off? Our family room lights get left on all the
time, it is in our basement. That doesn't mean that I want to go down all the
time and shut them off, LOL. I don't usually try to find out who left them
on either, LOL. Not that important who did it. What I usually do is just try
to remember that the next time I go down there for something to turn them
off , or I will mention to everyone within earshot, that whoever goes down next
to try to remember to turn them off on the way up the stairs. Usually one
of us will be going down there for something in the next 15 minutes. I just
don't see the lights in the basement as that much of a priority. It is just
as likely that it was me that left them on as anyone else. I know my youngest
doesn't like to have the dark room behind him while he is coming up the
stairs so he will leave them on. To me that sounds reasonable, I would do the
same in his situation.

Not trying to suggest that the posts so far are in any way "off the mark"
just that I see another option. Not turning them off. Instead of who turns
them off, or at least not right this minute.

Maybe look for different solutions in those situations. Instead of the
first one that pops to mind.

My thoughts,
Pam G






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vijay Owens

There is a room near our bathroom that barely qualifies as a room. It
has a piano in it and all of my husband's clothes and shoes. When he
comes home from work he changes out of his work clothes in there, but
he goes in and out of there at other times for other reasons. He often
leaves the light on. I notice it fairly quickly because I'm always
going in and out of the laundry room or the bathroom and you can see
the "piano room" from both. So I'll just yell toward the living room,
"Are you done in the piano room?" Because why turn it off if he's going
back in a minute? And he'll yell back that he's done and I'll turn it
off. No big deal. He gets a subtle non-blamey reminder that he left it
on, and I get to save a few hundredths of a penny on electricity, lol.

I'd hate it if our roles were reversed and DH was harping on me all the
time for wasting electricity, so when I feel myself starting to slip in
to lecture mode about it I bite my tongue. I think it's a good way to
model to Charlotte, a) we speak respectfully to each other even when
the other person is a bit forgetful or wasteful and b) it's good to
turn things off when you're not using them.

-Vijay


On Jul 22, 2006, at 8:35 AM, Genant2@... wrote:

> In a message dated 7/22/2006 8:02:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> Tell me why I NEED to shut it off and not pick this silly battle.<<<<<


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: Genant2@...

Maybe look for different solutions in those situations. Instead of
the
first one that pops to mind.


-=-=-

Yeah--- I was thinking maybe a separate connecting switch at the top of
the stairs would be a good idea! <G>



~Kelly

Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://liveandlearnconference.org

School's goal is to prepare them to be anything they want. But the
process is so dullifying and kids haven't explored the possibilities
of what they could be that many set their sites as low as possible.
They go to college to get a job to buy stuff. ~Joyce Fetteroll


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Rue Kream

Anonymous at poster's request:
Thank you all so much for your very insightful and helpful replies! You are
all right and I will keep those things in mind the next time such issues
come up (like the clothes all over the floor of his room ;) )
Hearing your suggestions reminded me of something my father used to do in
our house. If you left your shoes out, he'd throw them outside. One time, it
was so bad, I couldn't find my shoes for work and I was going to be late.
They were over the fence in the overgrowth, complete with bugs and wet from
rain. I was 17 y/o.
My husband was just muttering about me leaving my shoes out the other day.
Guess my Dad's tactic didn't work... ;-) Definate food for thought when I
fall into the same pattern. Thanks all