The other day I was trying to herd my 7- and 5-year-old into the bathtub. If you have children of a similar vintage you'll know that this is not always the easiest of tasks.
Neither one of them wanted to go first and I could see that the evening was beginning to take a turn for the worse. They were bickering and arguing and not listening to me or my wife.
*sigh*
Instead of turning to alcohol (for me, not the kids), I suggested they play a round of rock-paper-scissors with the loser having to go first for a bath.
They agree to this idea without complaint and immediately turned to each other for the duel.
Rock
Paper
Scissors
Shoot!
My son played a rock which was nicely covered by my daughter's paper. She won and he was in the bath before I could say "don't wear your socks into the tub."
That was so easy, I thought to myself. What a great bloody idea. A simple game of rock-paper-scissors, that's all the kids need. To them, that game is like the law of the land.
You can't break it.
You can't argue the result.
The thought occurred to me, why can't adult's solve problems like this? And I don't mean for only simple arguments like who has to run to the store for milk (although it's great for that!)
How about larger household decisions like should we buy a new TV or some new furniture? Or, is our next vehicle going to be a minivan or an SUV? Should we name our new baby Han Solo or Indiana Jones?
No problem! Rock-paper-scissors.
How about big government policy decisions? Should we invest more in social services or cut taxes? Should we build a new subway or new windmills? Should Canada finally invade and conquer the United States or remain the friendly little neighbour?
I know. Let's do rock-paper-scissors!
Even Amazon Alexa understands the law.
Alexa, let's play rock-paper-scissors.
She replies:
Okay, let's play. 3, 2, 1. Paper.
I cringe
Shit! Why do I always lose to a bot?!
See what I mean?!
Rock-paper-scissors is the key for every decision you need to make! These children are geniuses!
Try incorporating some rock-paper-scissors into your daily decision-making and I guarantee, you will never go back.
Alexa…!
Steven Beatty is a writer and registered nurse. He lives in Central Ontario, Canada with his wife and two fantastic kids. He's on Facebook and Twitter @stevenbeatty. Steve is the author of the book In-Between Years: Life after a positive Huntington's disease test, a columnist at Gene Positive on Huntington's Disease News, and a blogger here on Medium.