Sammy goofed tonight. He jumped right into a parenting moment, and he didn't know it was there until it was all way too late. Let me set the table for you...
Suzy and I were wrapping up dinner (hotdog-adillas, worthy of its own blog post some day), while the boys were scouring the house for what they could have for their dessert. They each stumbled upon their respective Valentine's Day booty from class, and were debating which piece of candy to consume. Daniel wolfed his down so quickly I couldn't even tell you what it was. Sammy, on the other hand, was savoring it. He had out a little package of Starbursts and then he made his first mistake,
'This one is broken.'
'No, buddy, it's not. There are just two pieces of candy in there.'
'Nope, this is broken.'
'Really, buddy, it's not broken, there are two pieces of candy in there.'
A good parent would probably have let this drop, but when has that ever stopped me? He has been making me grumpy recently by his habit of acting like a 'know-it-all' when he doesn't know what he is talking about. So I decided this was a 'teaching' moment. By the way, Suzy was completely cringing because she knew Sammy was in for it.
'Wanna bet, Sammy?'
'Yes! It is broken.'
'Ok, here's the bet, if it is broken, you can have both candies, but if it is not broken then I get them. Sound good?'
'Yep!'
So, quickly he tears apart the package and of course it is not broken, two nice little individually wrapped pieces of candy fall out, and he is not happy. Quickly he shoves the whole mess into his lap and says,
'See, they were broken!'
'Sammy.'
I held out my hand and he sheepishly gives me one of the two Starburst.
'Sammy, the bet was I get both if it wasn't broken.'
The tears started rolling. He reluctantly handed over the second piece and sat there sobbing. Suzy was looking at me like I was the biggest jerk in the world, which I pretty much was.
After everyone had calmed down, Sammy and I talked about betting, and about being a 'know-it-all'. I don't know how much he is going to take in, but later that night when I asked him if he wanted to bet me on something else you would not believe how fast the 'no' whipped out of his mouth.
And, yes, I did let him have the candy once I felt he understood what I was saying. I couldn't have Suzy mad at me all night, could I?
Suzy and I were wrapping up dinner (hotdog-adillas, worthy of its own blog post some day), while the boys were scouring the house for what they could have for their dessert. They each stumbled upon their respective Valentine's Day booty from class, and were debating which piece of candy to consume. Daniel wolfed his down so quickly I couldn't even tell you what it was. Sammy, on the other hand, was savoring it. He had out a little package of Starbursts and then he made his first mistake,
'This one is broken.'
'No, buddy, it's not. There are just two pieces of candy in there.'
'Nope, this is broken.'
'Really, buddy, it's not broken, there are two pieces of candy in there.'
A good parent would probably have let this drop, but when has that ever stopped me? He has been making me grumpy recently by his habit of acting like a 'know-it-all' when he doesn't know what he is talking about. So I decided this was a 'teaching' moment. By the way, Suzy was completely cringing because she knew Sammy was in for it.
'Wanna bet, Sammy?'
'Yes! It is broken.'
'Ok, here's the bet, if it is broken, you can have both candies, but if it is not broken then I get them. Sound good?'
'Yep!'
So, quickly he tears apart the package and of course it is not broken, two nice little individually wrapped pieces of candy fall out, and he is not happy. Quickly he shoves the whole mess into his lap and says,
'See, they were broken!'
'Sammy.'
I held out my hand and he sheepishly gives me one of the two Starburst.
'Sammy, the bet was I get both if it wasn't broken.'
The tears started rolling. He reluctantly handed over the second piece and sat there sobbing. Suzy was looking at me like I was the biggest jerk in the world, which I pretty much was.
After everyone had calmed down, Sammy and I talked about betting, and about being a 'know-it-all'. I don't know how much he is going to take in, but later that night when I asked him if he wanted to bet me on something else you would not believe how fast the 'no' whipped out of his mouth.
And, yes, I did let him have the candy once I felt he understood what I was saying. I couldn't have Suzy mad at me all night, could I?
1 comment:
Looking at the pictures that Suzy took during the time in question has certainly verified that I am a bad person. Look at that face. Poor kid. But Suzy couldn't have been too mad at me if she scrambled off, found her camera, and took pictures.
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