Follow Up

I must follow up my last post with the conversation my children had last night while I was getting dinner ready.

Allow me to set the scene for you ...

I'm in the kitchen, slaving away, getting dinner ready.  (OK, so it was hardly slaving.  I was heating up chicken nuggets and jambalaya from the Butcher Shop, but whatevs.)

Kendall and Tanner had been called downstairs in order to wash their hands before dinner.  We must rid ourselves of as many germs as possible before consuming food.  And as messy as my urchins are, it is important to be rid of the germs.  (Picture: spitting, petting the dog while eating, sharing drinks, wiping snot on shirt, coughing and sneezing, smacking ...)  Kendall kept trying to get Tanner to jump from the coffee table to the sofa; this is one of their favorite past times.  (Please refer to my post on allowing them to jump on the sofa so I can get dinner ready.  Probably shouldn't have started that habit when they were smaller.)

Anyhoodle, I calmly reminded them that they are not supposed to jump from the table to the sofa, that our home is not a circus or a trapeze act.  Then, I reminded them again, this time not so calmly, that if they didn't stop, I was going to take a marble from their buckets.  After removal of the marbles (you see how my threats work, right?), I told them that they were not going trick or treating if one more person jumped anywhere in the house.  And it wasn't really a "told" situation -- it was more of a "yell."

So then the two of them proceeded to sit on the sofa, heads huddled together, talking about me.

Really??

It was like sitting in the high school cafeteria my senior year all over again.

This is what I heard.  Mind you, I'm not sure they were trying very hard to be discreet ...

K: Mommy is so mean, right?
T: Yeah, she is.
K: She never lets us do anything fun, does she?
T: Nope.
K: Daddy is so much better, isn't he?
T: Yeah.  I like Daddy.
K: (with tears in her eyes) I wish Daddy was here, don't you?
T: Yeah, me, too.
K: Daddy is so much better.  sniff, sniff
T: Yeah ...

What the heck??

Anyway, I was going to let it bother me, but then I decided to beat them at their own game.

So here's what I said.

"Oh, yeah?  Well, just remember that MOMMY is the one who buys your clothes and cooks your food (most of the time).  And MOMMY is the one who buys your Christmas presents, birthday presents, and Halloween costumes (OK, well it's Daddy's money, but I drive to the store and everything).  So there!"

That'll show 'em. right?!