Picking Your Battles

I’m staring at my living room wall and notice little brown things sticking to the wall about four feet off the ground. Upon closer examination I realize it’s nose pickings.

I knew the culprit — four year old ‘Howling Mad Murdock.’ — who finds it funny to wipe his nose on my shirt during daily hit-and-run attacks to punch me in the stomach.

So I confront the perpetrator:

Me [Sternly]: “Did you wipe your nose on this wall!”

Howling Mad [Enthusiastically with a glowing smile]: Yeah!

I was prepared to scold. But his response just reduced me to a mild “please don’t do it again.” The older brothers spend so much time denying or blaming others for their bad behavior, so I was tensed up expecting an argument … with a four year old … about boogers.

Remember, it’s all about picking your battles.