Loophole

Most of the time I feel like I am completely spinning my wheels and might as well be trying to teach a cow how to vacuum. I swear I have said the same things five thousand times and it just goes in one of Connors ears and out the other. I had a momentary validation today.

We were leaving Target this morning and I told Connor to get in his seat while I loaded Charlie and the bags into the car. I got everything into the car and cranked it up. "Wait mom! I need my seat belt!". Woops...bad mommy forgot to buckle the kid in. After I had buckled him in and was driving back to the house I was feeling pretty cocky about my parenting skills. My almost three year old would not let me drive without putting his seat belt on! He listened! He remembered! I am AWESOME!!!!

We got home and he walked into the house, saw his toy disaster in the living room and said, "Look at all this mess!!" Then he picked up some cars and threw them into a bucket. Now, I know that is not much but for him it is huge. Again I am thinking I was an awesome parent. My child recognized a mess and decided to clean it up (somewhat).

With my chest puffed out with pride I started to get lunch ready. Peanut butter sandwich with strawberries. And there comes the attitude I know so well. "I don't WAAAAAAANT these strawberries!!!!!!" "Well Connor, if you eat all of your strawberries you can have some chocolate goldfish." Chocolate goldfish are his crack. He started at the strawberries then looked at me with his signature mischievous smirk. Then my wonderfully behaved, always following directions little boy proceeded to grab three sliced strawberries and shove them all into his mouth at one time. "No sir! One bite at a time!" I started yelling. One stray slice slipped out of his mouth and he quickly snatched it back up and shoved it back in. Apparently that slice was just a little more than his mouth could hold and he started gagging. Somehow this child managed to throw up and let the barf fall out of his mouth without letting one single strawberry slice fall out of his mouth. Red vomit all over the clothes and table...and of course on the one day he is wearing nice clothes instead of a t shirt. By the time my shock wore off he was swallowing the last of the giant bite and coughing. "Chocolate goldfish mommy!" he says with a giant smile. I hag to give them to him...after all he did eat all the strawberries like I told him to.

"Mommy, this pants needs some oxyclean." That's my boy!