Please don’t judge me. I will admit it: I offered my 8 year old daughter a Hershey chocolate bar if she’d help my son clean his room this morning!  There it is.  “Parent of the Year” title awarded to me!!  But, in my defense,  my son is giving me a run for my money these days.  “He’s four years old,” I tell myself continuously throughout the day…but it’s hard to keep up with him sometimes!

I walked into his room this morning and it looked like someone had picked his room up from the foundation of the house, turned it upside down, and then set it back down again…like a giant snow globe!!!  Only instead of soft, sparkling snow covering the floor, it was covered in toys, clothes, dirty socks and underwear, stuff from his sisters’ rooms and stuff I’m not exactly sure of.  Are those my missing flip flops?  Remember from two blogs ago…I have a difficult time with messes!  We had fifteen minutes before it was time to leave for school, and I was desperate!  That’s when my daughter came in, all ready for school, and with time to spare!  And it hit me…I remembered that chocolate bar in the pantry!!  I pitched my offer to my daughter and she happily agreed to our “chocoate bar deal”!!  She was off and running to help him clean.

I felt guilty though.  Half of me was saying, “Dang.  She did it all herself, while he looked on not learning a thing from this experience…I’m a terrible parent.”  But the other half of me (the one I tend to like a whole lot better) said, “Score, Tami!!  High fives for such a genius plan!!  Chocolate has antioxidants and also aids in digestion…that was healthy for her too!!  Job well done!” 🙂

Maybe not the best start to our day, but I’m learning to have a little grace for myself…especially when it comes to parenting.  My kids are loved and they know it…  and what do I know?   I know I won’t be writing any “Parenting How To” books any time soon!  😉  I am, however, going to add chocolate bars to the grocery list!