A few weeks ago my children were whining to my husband about doing their weekly chores. Granted, their weekly chores are minimal and if done without complaint would likely take them 20 minutes. As I’m sure the story goes in most homes lots of drama can ensue when parents declare that it’s time to get some housework done. Amidst all of the griping my husband said, “What do we always say? Work … ”

Before he could finish his mini-lecture they both chimed in unison the end of his oft repeated phrase, “We know: Work before play every day.” They groan everytime they hear it. I guess it’s sunk in after years of repetition.

Simultaneously, in another room, I was avoiding my long list of to-dos by watching the end of a TV show. I couldn’t help but think to myself, How often do I dish out advice that I myself don’t take? I began jotting down a few gems over the next day or so and here’s what I came up with.

“Crying doesn’t make it any easier to do what you need to do.” How often do we cry over something that isn’t really that important and we just delay the process of getting it done. My daughter spent weeks and weeks crying about getting dressed. Every day she’d go through this awful routine. (This was during her naked phase when she preferred to run around in the nude.) It would take her three times as long to get dressed because she sobbed through the whole process.

“Stop whining about it and get it done.” Again, similar to crying while doing you hate to do, whining about it is just as bad. All of that negativity just slows you down and really doesn’t make you feel better.

“If you didn’t stay up so late you wouldn’t be so cranky.” I can always tell when kids went to bed too late, but I rarely recognize this same problem in myself. I need my beauty sleep just as much as they do and skipping out on it for too many nights in a row is a recipe for disaster for me as much as it is for them. Was it really worth it to watch that movie or work on that project if it means I’m dysfunctional the next day?

“If you need to pee, then pee.” Embarassing to admit this one, but I think hours will go by and I’ll have been so busy that I will forget I need to pee until I’m about to burst. I find myself constantly chastising my four-year-old for the same bad habit, yet if charges were brought up against me in a court of law I would certainly be found guilty of the very same crime.

Question: What advice do you find yourself dishing out that you’re not taking yourself?