Sam is getting really into super heroes, soldiers, and that sort of alpha-male thing. Being the bargain hunter I am (see previous entry “Best Money Ever Spent”), I stockpile random toys from the Dollar Aisle at Tar-jay and then sock them away for a “rainy day.” OK, let’s face it, I whip out one of those suckers out when I need a good bribe, which I call a “reward” to ease my Catholic conscience. So a while back I picked up a bag of plastic Army men, those old-fashioned olive green and drab brown ones, for the next emotional downpour.
At the beginning of Sam’s swimming lesson at Morgan Swim School the other day, he was pitching a fit (literally) that he didn’t want to go. First I offered him some ice cream after the lesson was over, a usual bulls-eye. His response was, “Can you mix a brownie in it?” That’s my boy! (I LOVE ice cream, especially with mix-ins.) Still though, he was a sobbing mess hanging onto the car door. So I resorted to the rainy day bribe supply and offered him the army men if he did a good job at his class.
Needless to say once the class started, he was a-OK. By the time I went to pick him up, he was lying on his back in the pool belting out a few stanzas of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” I was impressed as I’m not quite sure I could do that. On the way home, he made sure to hit me up for the brownie-filled ice cream and soldiers, and I came through. (Bait and switch does not work well on the 4-year-old mind. Then again, no one likes to be conned.)
That night Sam showed Daddy Mac his new soldiers. Daddy said, “Did you know that Mommy used to be a soldier?” Sam was silent for a minute and then asked, “In the olden days?”
Yes, in the olden days. Now go to your room!
LibbY
Hilarious!! Out of the mouths of babes, right? At least he didn’t ask if there were dinosaurs.