Some people blame every holiday on Hallmark and the greedy toy stores. That may be true for some but I am more than willing, as a parent, to take some of the blame. The more I play this parenting game the more grateful I am for things like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the evening ritual of dessert. The first tooth lost in our household was Cookie's. I swear, she was willing to let those teeth rot in her mouth before she was ever going to let us pull one of them. After looking at her twisted toothy smile I couldn't take it any longer. I grabbed a wad of toilet paper, tackled her to the ground, grabbed that sucker and it popped right out. She looked at me as if I was Freddy Kruger's evil twin sister. But, the next morning, after finding the loot left under her pillow she was more than willing to bring me a wad of toilet paper the next time she had a loose one.
I was never raised expecting dessert after meals and I was going to raise my children the same, healthy way. but then I had two little boys that refused to eat vegetables. Suddenly dessert became my partner in crime as I bribed my way through pounds of broccoli and bushels of green beans.
Now, just today, Santa Claus came to my aid once again. We were cleaning devils. We cleaned everything but the kids' bedrooms which weren't that bad so I was willing to let them wait for tomorrow. Then, Monster Man, the boy who HATES to clean, tugged on my shirt and with a very worried countenance said, "But mommy, Santa is going to check if our rooms are clean. We need to clean my room." So, they are downstairs cleaning their rooms so that Santa will bring them more toys.
(I have to admit to a little lie here. Last week, at dinner time, I told the kids that I had talked to Santa and he told me that he wasn't delivering new toys to any children who weren't taking care of the toys they already had. My two oldest know that when I say Santa I mean Mom and Dad. The youngest is too young to even care what I say about anything. I didn't think about Monster Man though and he truly took it to heart. Oh well, the lie was told and I plan on riding it all the way through New Years if I can.)
13 comments:
Ha ha ha...yes its true at our house too. It usually comes in handy for me in the store when I hear the "I want..." I just say, "I can't buy it for you, what if Santa already made you one?..."
Really? Is that what Santa said? I'll have to tell my little ones that. I'll tell them they better start cleaning their rooms! I like it!
I was never a sweets fan much until I married Andrew and he has systematically over the years trained me to think about dessert. He has to have something sweet and yet he never gets fat.
Santa lies are allowed I think.
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/
I think we as mothers need to always keep all our options on the table :) !!
I love that dessert is your partner in crime!
Your comment on my blog - excellent. I'm going to steal that one from you someday.
I know Santa and the tooth fairy and any other tricks we Moms use to get our kids to do things are there for a reason. They work! My kids don't get dessert very often but when those brownies are baking in the oven they will eat that peas and carrots.
Cute post! Whatever works, right?
I wish my eldest still believed in Santa or the Tooth fairy. It used to work so well :)
Heidi
Are you kidding? I've been milking the Santa thing for an entire month now! Phrases you'll hear about my house are:
"Santa won't come in our house if it is messy."
"Santa doesn't leave presents for children with bad manners."
"Don't hit your brother; Santa is watching and he'll take you off of his list!"
I'm only passing on what was taught to me as a child--be good or you won't get gifts. In reality, even after I aged I learned that I still had to be good or I wouldn't get gifts from God, so I think it a valuable lesson all the same! :)
I need to abolish my guilt and dive into the Santa-Milking culture. I could use a little cheerful help with the bedroom cleaning!
I've been milking the Santa bit since - oh gosh - maybe...... August???
Santa has been a good helper to me over the years too. One year I actually had a friend from Canada (which for little kids is close enough to the north pole to work) mail a letter to my kids saying that they were on the good list but in danger of slipping if they didn't keep their room clean. That was one shiny room for the next 3 weeks!
Kim @ TheBitterBall
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