The Easy Way vs. The Hard Way

We have been experiencing that classic dichotomy in our house of late, the Easy Way vs. the Hard Way. It's not always clear-cut which is the better path, because sometimes the Easy Way is good for you, and sometimes the Hard Way is good for you. A few recent examples:

• DH did not take the Easy Way and call someone to come out and service our lawnmower. Instead, he went and bought all the right gear to change the oil & blades himself, including a set of ramps, and went about assembling the ramps and then doing it all himself. The cost for all the supplies was probably equal to what we would have paid for a housecall to do the same service, except now we have paid-for ramps and in-house experience with doing it ourselves, thus saving us money in the future. It was the Hard Way this year, but in the future it will be the Easy and LBYM Way.
• DD has been going through another "Challenge Authority" phase, wherein every command and instruction given by myself and DH are met with obstinacy and either failure to comply or the bare minimum of compliance, with a healthy dose of Attitude thrown in. Obviously, the Easy Way for her would be to just do what we tell her to do, but she is consistently chosing the Hard Way and is being punished with time-outs, spankings, and loss of Points (which are earned daily and can be used to buy things once a week from our special Points Store, with goodies such as candy, window clings, Princess socks and the like). I can already see a prequel of the teen years in our house...oh boy.
• DS has been doing his fair share of choosing the Hard Way of late too. He is on antibiotics for his first ear infection, and has figured out a successful strategy for ejecting most of the antibiotic from his mouth when we administer it with the syringe. (As an aside, COME ON PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES, can you NOT find a more concentrated way to package a standard antibiotic for infants than to require parents to get SEVEN MILLILITERS into a screaming baby who is about to throw it all back up because they are gagging??? Really???) We called our pediatrician in desperation because honestly the kid was spitting out more than he was getting, and were then told, "Oh, well, just mix it in with a little food or ice cream or popsicle." *eye twitch* And you could not tell us this LAST WEEK when we got the prescription???
• Like two fools, DH & I have been choosing the Hard Way each evening, knowing we have two sick kids who will likely wake up multiple times, and still we are staying up to our normal time before trying to go to sleep. And we wonder why we are a titch cranky? Hmmm? Now who is choosing the Hard Way? I do not wonder where my children get this habit, no I do not...

Well, there is more proof, as if any were needed, that by being a parent I am reminded of how often I choose the Hard Way when it's not the best choice. To see my own children do the same thing is such an apt mirror of humanity. Oh, the humanity! Off my soapbox now, I need to go to bed early for a change. Night-night.