Will You Please Reconsider?

You know those times when the kids are misbehaving or not listening and you start making threats? And you know those times when in the heat of the moment you make a threat that you'll later regret because you were angry and you blurted out the first thing that came to mind even though it was COMPLETELY unreasonable? Admit it, you've done it! But what are you going to do? You have to follow through, RIGHT??? Because you wouldn't want to be one of THOSE parents... You know which ones I'm talking about! The ones who threaten but would NEVER consider following through?

Earlier in the week I was taking the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house so that I could run an errand with my mom and go to a dentist appointment. Big A was acting up in the car and after two warnings I told him that if he swatted at his sister again he would not be able to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's (Keep in mind, his listening skills have been pretty much non-existent this week and I'm fed up!). Of COURSE he did it again and with a big shit eating grin on his face. I said, "THAT'S IT! You're NOT staying at Grandma's!" Well... The tears ensued and the "THAT'S NOT FAIR" started but what was I to do?

When we got to my parents' house I reminded him that he was not staying and when we went inside I said to my mom, "CRAP! Now what do I do? I told Big A that he couldn't stay here and now how do I get out of it?"

Grandma immediately went in to talk to Big A about listening and minding and things that grandma's talk to grandsons about and a few minutes later Big A came to me and said, "Mommy, will you please reconsider? (HUH? Did my 4 1/2 year old just ask me to 'reconsider'???) Grandpa hasn't seen me in a long time and he was really looking forward to playing with me."

Of course I caved, what was I going to do? I reiterated to Big A (IN FRONT OF GRANDPA) how he was expected to behave and what would happen if Grandpa had to talk to him at all (that he will NOT be staying with Grandma and Grandpa next time) and Mom and I were off.

Okay... Fast forward 24 hours... I get home from work, throw dinner on the table and am rushing to get things done before soccer, when what do I hear coming from the dining room? Big A telling Little A that it's okay to put mashed potatoes in your hair. I holler a warning from the kitchen that nobody better have mashed potatoes in their hair, grab my plate, and head to the table. I sit down, take a deep breath, and look around at my company...

They are COVERED in potatoes. All over their hands, all over their placemats, and yes... All over their hair. WHAT??? WHAT??? Since WHEN do my kids eat like animals? (Okay... So as I sit here and type this I sure wish I had a working camera so I could have taken pictures of the potato monsters, but really... What would that have said to them? That it's OKAY to finger paint with your mashed potatoes???)

As you might have guessed (or maybe not because maybe you think that I'm perfect and would never raise my voice at my kids) I came unglued. I was SO frustrated! I could not figure out what had gotten into them and I threatened bed time right after dinner if they didn't start behaving.

Big A wasn't happy about that and after many times of hearing, "Please mommy, please can I play, please can I stay up, please don't make me go to bed," (which I refused to play along with after awhile) he said to me, "Mommy, can you please reconsider?"

GREAT! I see where THIS is going! Every answer he gets that he doesn't like will now be followed with, "Mommy, can you please reconsider?" I guess it's time to have a talk about WHEN it's appropriate for me to 'reconsider' and when it's not! Wish me luck!

SIDE NOTE (because this came to mind just now when I was bitching about kids playing with their mashed potatoes)...

Okay, I just realized that the kids come by this potato fetish honestly. When camera phones first came out I had a fascination with the one on Spencer's phone. I thought it was cool and I loved taking pictures of COMPLETELY random things. One night we were eating dinner at KFC and... Well... Okay... Here goes...