Over the Christmas holiday, the dryer broke. Well, not exactly. It just started squeaking. Eeek Eeek. Eeek. For each rotation for the entire cycle. So, we shut the door to the laundry while drying clothes. My husband ordered and replaced the belt. Yay! I thought . No more squeaking. Nope. Eeek. Eeek. Eeek. So we shut the door.

This got me to thinking (that is farmer Guire speak for ‘I thought about’) on the saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” I guess our family approaches it differently. My farm raised husband thinks if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. i.e. if it still works, use it. If you have to prop it shut with a board, tie it up with a string, or nail it shut, just use it until it really needs fixed. He doesn’t care about the squeak. It still dries the clothes.
This is not a post about farming or my husband, it is about a philosophy we Guires have. The squeaky wheel does not get the grease unless it is is really broken. Meaning, it doesn’t work.

Kids like to squeak for attention. They sound like the rooster staking his claim in the barnyard. Annoying. We call it whining. And then….. there is begging. You don’t get far in this household with that kind of squeaking. We just shut the door on you, unless you are really broken. Hurt. We will listen when you cool down. Physically hurt, we will tend to your wounds. But, just plain ole squeaking -nope. Shut the door. We don’t want to hear it. Begging gets you nothing. Whining gets you less. Yes there is less than nothing. It is a negative number or in family terms, a consequence. Whiners grow up to whiners. Beggers grow up to expect people to give them whatever they want, a welfare mentality. Those who can make a plea in reasonable terms grow up to be adults who can reason and then walk away if there is disagreement. I believe in compromise. I give kids choices. It helps them practice decisions. What I don’t give them is the floor to squeak. They can have the floor to speak, but not to squeak, whine, complain or question my parenting. If you squeak around here and you are not broken, we just shut the door.

Linking up with Kristin Hill Taylor for Three Word Wednesday!