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More often than not, when it comes to a 30 lb. boy with sparkly brown eyes, I have a hard time saying "No." To be perfectly honest though, I think I may preempt his protests with an automatic cave in.... Take yesterday for example... We had just left an incredible birthday party at Giggles and Hugs. Jonah had his face painted, a balloon blown into a dragon (er, dinosaur?), a big piece of cake, two kinds of ice cream and even a life size bubble blown around his body. To quote his new favorite television show, The Fresh Beat Band, "We had a great day, it was a super way, to spend some time together." Btw, side note- if you don't watch this with your child: Please do. Share in my horror. With lines like "hip hop and pop, my legs just won't stop," I feel very alone. Join me.
ANYWAY, there are these carts, these fire truck carts, outside the market... And on our way out, as I was schlepping a shopping bag with a dozen apples and grape juice to make Charoset for Jonah's preschool Seder (this I'll save for another post), the gift bag from the party, and the dinosaur (er, caterpillar?), the 30 lb. boy's eyes twinkled just right and his voice sang just so:
"Mommy, can I go in the fire-"
"YES."
Am I sucker for his cuteness? Yes. But in less than 3 seconds of him asking, I saw life without this firetruck cart flash before me. It was a hard 10 minutes. One where there would have definitely been tears, tantrums, and a fancy balloon getting popped. We would have eventually made it to my car... but along the way, it would have been gnarly, tough and all around unpleasant.
I took out my credit card.
Yes, credit card. These carts cost $7.
Breathe.
Yes, SEVEN DOLLARS.
SWIPE.
My purse went in the bottom compartment with the dangling green worm. Our groceries, his gift bag went into the front seat, and the batman painted fire chief went on the top seat.
"Here we go!" I said.
"Thank you, Mommy. Thank you."
Wha-- whaaat? He gets it? He gets THIS?
"You're welcome, baby. Let's go for a ride."
It was a short ride. The market and my car... very close. In fact, I even asked him if we should go for a spin around the mall since we had this cool car. He said no, he was ready to go home. So we did. 10 minutes tops in this cart. $7 on my Visa.
For me $7 was a small price to pay for 10 minutes of calm. The rest of the night was flawless. No protests. No drama. Was it the cart? Does saying "yes" do the trick? What things do you give in on or pay for, for the sake of keeping the peace?
3 comments:
- My gal is OBSESSED with Fresh Beat Band. Sometimes it drives me...BANANAS. (Get it?)
- $7?! That's highway robbery, although not too surprising, knowing that mall. However, I might've just done the same thing given that request. I love that he loved it so much, and I love that you provided him, and yourself, with that blissful moment.
- I'm a sucker for buying balloons/balloon animals. I'm also a fairly easy target for all things Yo Gabba Gabba, which are apparently hard to find but you wouldn't know it by looking at our condo.
I give in all the time when they ask for treats - and honestly, i am probably the instigator most of the time because I'm the one who actually wants to eat the cookies/muffins/ whatever.
And I totally feel your pain on The Fresh Beat Band. I can pretty much sing every song on that show (ps, why are there only like 3 episodes?), and I am fairly close to learning the dance routine for the great Day song. You can imagine my pride at this accomplishment.
there is no price that i won't pay for quiet.
$7 is entirely reasonable. hell, i'd take him twice in one day.
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