Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to say ‘yes’ to my kids for a whole day? Wow, it is sort of impossible for me to do. If you know me then you are aware that I have some control issues not least of which revolve around demanding total compliance from my kids at all times… (yah, I’ll let you know if I ever achieve that insane goal) Anyway, I didn’t give them any warning so they had no time to prepare any outrageous demands (self-preservation rule #1) but after the first couple of “Can I -yes- have…” it slowly dawned on them that I was feeling magnanimous. Either that or I had suffered a recent head trauma.
Oh boy, things got messy fast…I mean I expected the endless requests to eat junk pretty much all day long but either children in general have some sub-conscious death wish … or my kids simply have weird bucket-list items that defy all reasonable expectations to avoid bodily harm..
– ” can we swim across the lake without life jackets?” um, no
– ” can we jump off the roof of the garage into the pool?” no again
– ” can we take Grandpa’s quad up the side of that steep hill?” nope
– ” can I build a fire taller than me?” nada
– ” can I take this compass and just go for a ‘wander’ in those woods? I saw something on Survivorman once I wanna try. I’ll be back in about 6 hours. I don’t need any food or water or anything, just this axe…” what the ?
– ” can we get a dog?” sure, no wait a minute, oh, I see what you did there. And no, that’s not going to work.
See what I mean. Is that normal? Don’t answer that.
Suffice to say, I went back to my “safety-first” and “no dogs” style of parenting and they made do with chips and soda for dinner. Seriously, I am getting too old for this.
Good luck this month, have a great summer and let ’em eat cake…all day (it’s easier on your nerves than some of the alternatives!)