Nowadays, family routines are a little different from the way they used to be. Once I pick up Zane, we may have errands to run, or we may have soccer practice. There may be a PTO meeting at the school. My husband may or may not get home before 5pm. There's homework. Lots of variables, including my son.
The other day I made Zane something to eat after we arrived home. He likes to eat before he does his homework, and he'll sit at the table and watch shows on his tablet while he eats and I get dinner ready for Larry and I. I was just turning the oven on when I saw my son heading for the bathroom, tablet AND dinner plate in hand. I stopped him.
"What are you doing?" I had a pretty good idea what the answer to my question might be, but I had to ask.
"Going to the bathroom," came the reply.
"You cannot take your food into the bathroom," I said calmly. Well, calmly for ME.
"Why not?" I was a little shocked that my child would argue with me about this, but perhaps they had not covered this chapter of hygiene in the kindergarten yet.
"It's germy in there." Yeah, that was all I could think of to say. Go me.
"But you cleaned it!" My son was correct; I had cleaned the bathroom. I tried to be reasonable. I opened my mouth to explain about micro organisms and how they all lived in the bathroom and caused many diseases involving bodily fluids.
"NO!" The Mom Veto just popped right out of my mouth without explanation. Zane grumbled as he brought his food back to the table and left it before he returned to the bathroom.
To Zane's way of thinking, taking his food into the bathroom was the most efficient means of time management. He would be engaging in three different activities at once, after all. I was a bad Mama for not allowing him to engage in such efficient behavior. I should feel guilty about not giving in to his whims.
Not so much.
hee hee hee!
ReplyDeleteThe way kids minds work are interesting and amazing. I find that the Mom Veto is effective when reasoning is just not going to work. And reasoning with kids can be frustrating.
ReplyDelete