Wednesday, June 16, 2010
I took my husband to the US Open today. My daughter joined us as well. Everything was good until I had to replace my fun, and friendly hat with the mean, ugly Mom one. One moment of parenting turned into a twenty minute tantrum from my eleven year-old. Yep, right there on the Ninth hole at Pebble Beach, my child decides to disown me, her dad, and get mired down in self-pity. It got so bad, she wouldn't walk with us. And when we sat down, where did she sit? Two rows back, in the far corner. We asked her to join us and what did she do? Sat five seats down from us. Ten minutes later she comes over and stands in front of us. What does she want? She wants a Clif bar. Yep, you read correctly. My daughter, whom hadn't spoken to me or her dad (whose birthday it was) for at least 45 minutes at this point, now wants us to drop everything and give her a snack. This is after the half-stack of pancakes soaked in syrup; and the cheeseburger with fries at the Trophy Club at the golf club. Now she wants more. No apology for her behavior is offered. Just, "can I have the Clif bar now?" Our answer: a simple no.
But, this is my husband's birthday and I wanted it to be remembered as special. Not another one where our daughter throws a tantrum and we all retreat to separate corners of the house. So instead, I got the kid a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and a water; a chardonnay for me, and a beer for the birthday boy. All of a sudden, the universe was back in alignment and my child's frown turned upside down. Oh, there still was no apology. There was no thank you for the treat either. Just a smile. And at that point, I took what I could get. And then I kept the bribery going the rest of the day. Brownie? No problem. Chocolate Chip Cookie? No problem! Hot Dog? Lemonade? Concussion? NO PROBLEM! After all, this was her dad's birthday and we were going to have a great day as a family if it killed us.
I know bribing a kid to get them to do something you want is setting a bad example. But sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. My husband had a great day. My daughter forgot about her aching, blistering feet, and I got to sit back and enjoy my family actually have a good time together. I'd say that is a gift that is priceless.
Lindsay has many more hiding in her tree. Keep following to see where she travels to next.
~Lindsay
