Friday, May 11, 2012

The Key To Getting a Teen to Wake Up

I've figured it out. The way to get my 15-year-old son out of bed on school days is to: a) take away his cell phone the night before and b) don't give it back until he wakes up and eats breakfast. It works!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The sugar bowl disaster

Yesterday morning, my nine-year-old son asked to have sugar put in his Cheerios. I said he could get the sugar. He chose the sugar bowl in the upper cupboard. He should have used a stool. He was trying to put it back when he said loudly, "OH GREAT!" I said, "What?" I walked over to where he was in the kitchen and saw the shattered lid. So sad I was. My mom gave me that bowl when she moved out of state. All I said was, "My mom gave me that. I feel like crying." And that broke the flood gates of my son who was in tears and went to his room. Moms don't say the brightest things all the time. Strike one for mom. A little while later, while my son was eating his Cheerios and I was sitting at the same table, working at the computer, I said, "Well, I guess I could use a sugar bowl for Mother's Day. Just sayin.'" This put an idea into my son's head, because later in the day I saw him walk up to his dad and say, "Can we go to the store today?" My work here is done. For now.