Rochambeau and Coffee Dates

Most of my boys' disagreements can be solved by a 2 out of 3 of rochambeau. Who goes first? Who picks the movie? Who picks what is for dinner? All solved by rochambeau. With rochambeau there is an understanding that the winner wins, an the loser doesn't pout or complain about the outcome. It is simple.

Sometimes a little more complicated solution is required and we move from a level one rochambeau solution to a level two draft order. Level two is rarely required in anything but lego and playmobil selection. In this case rochambeau determines the picking order and then draft order comes into play. The person with the first pick selects one, then the second pick selects one and then the third person picks two. At this point the order is now reversed and next up to pick is person 2, then 1, then 3,2,1 until the legos or playmobil run out or the pickers get bored with the process of picking and decide to go ahead and just play. Problems solved. Each picking position has a perk. While the first person gets first choice of the whole pile, the 3rd person gets to pick two for his or her first pick.

Unfortunately, the challenges that I face us an adult are rarely easily solved by rochambeau. Instead I have coffee dates. While coffee doesn't provide a solution to the problem, it does provide comfort as I work through the solution.

Today was a bad morning. It kicked off with an unfortunate email that I read while still in bed. Lesson learned - don't read email until after the day has brought something good. Then the day continued down the drain and stuff started hitting the fan left and right. I was yelling at the boys, Matt was yelling at me for yelling at the boys, Gabe ran out of the house, Eli was running after him while yelling, and it was 16 degrees outside so the frustrations of the morning were just amplified by the fact that everyone was literally freezing their face off.

Thankfully, today was a pre-scheduled coffee date. Two friends came over, we ate breakfast and shared a few cups of coffee together. I vented, they listened and suddenly the horrible morning and the unresolvable problem brought up in that email faded away. Problems not solved but at least for the moment set aside.

Just as a quick round of rochambeau can squelch a fiery argument, a sweet cup of coffee with friends can calm an anxious soul. I'm thankful for scheduled coffee dates on days that I really need them and for friends who are willing to listen to me vent....over coffee!