The PEZ Debacle

Today, I caught myself in the act of breaking a cardinal rule of parenting. I gave into a tantrum! While the debacle was only over eating a PEZ, or should I say another PEZ (she had already had 2), I am still ashamed of my moment of weakness.

Blame it on the sinus headache I woke up with this morning that is obviously clouding my judgment, or on simple laziness and unwillingness to have a battle with a 2 year old in the middle of the morning. Regardless, as she gave me her smile of victory, I immediately started thinking about how this one little slip up would come back to haunt me in the future. Am I setting myself up for a tantrum every time the answer is no because she will remember that time that I caved and allowed her to have more candy? Will she one day call me out on the fact that I’ve been known to change my mind and sometimes give in after I’ve already said no? I only go there because it has happened to me with my 5 year old, and I know that history will indeed repeat itself.

I usually consider myself to be a fairly strict parent. We set rules and stick to them, and we expect respect and obedience from our children. We also try to be as consistent with rules and expectations as we can so as not to confuse our kids. For the most part, no means no, and I can be more stubborn than my children when that’s what is required. I’m not often one they are able to walk all over. On the flip side, I do have a soft spot for puppy dog eyes and for sappy looks and adorable pouts. What can I say – I am a bit of a sucker for my children, and they can win me over my being sweet and kind. Tantrums however, don’t typically work on me. They just annoy me and make me even more likely to say no. Just not sure what happened to me today.

Let’s just hope I’m not going soft!

Until next time,

Chief Mom Officer

(CMO)