Thursday, April 14, 2011

"You can sell all our toys, Mom!"

All we need is the SpinSword!
Well, and the Samurizer (that we don't have yet)!

Last we left off, the twins were on week 3 of workin'
hard to earn their overpriced toys!

Big Brother (and mega Twin-Hero) even got in on the donations.
After my last post, Evan applied his hard-work, dedication and exacto-knife skills
to put together this neat little gift for the boys:
 A SUPER COOL note from The Red Power Ranger HIMSELF!
 Addressed to both the Blue and the Green Rangers.
 Isn't that PRECIOUS!?!

So, how did they earn the rest of the money?
Well, you know - I. Am. Such. a. strict. mother and rule enforcer. It went down a little like this...

On the way out the door one morning, I was trying to squeeze another round of laundry in.
The boys were playing (read: rough housing) and in fact, had been ALL morning long.
I got my serious tone on and told them to head downstairs and get their backpacks.
Of course, the rough housing continued.
On the way.
Down the stairs.
And before I could yell out a warning,
I HEARD the crash, the thump, and more and more thumpin'.
I raced down the stairs before I even took in what had happened...
But, I eventually saw Austin on the floor, both hands up to face and wailing like there was no tomorrow.
Turns out, Logan had tripped up Austin's foot and Austin (I think) fell face first on the stairs and then slid
All the way down. on. his. face.
And I think, the actuall fact of falling (understandably) scared the living shitake out of him.
After eventually ascertaining that the child was okay, we left the house about 10 minutes late -
Even though Austin kept telling me that he didn't want to school. 
And that he wanted to stay with me.
And he started crying again, so..
Well, I may have whispered in his ear that I maybe, would, um, er
sorta "pay" him to go to school.

I'll pause for the gasp/intake of breath.

"What, Mommy?"
Trying not to let Logan hear, I said, "um, a dollar. 
If you go to school like a big, brave boy. Mommy will give you a dollar."
 My skilled negoiator immediately stopped crying and SHOUTED out,
"TEN DOLLARS!  I want TEN DOLLARS to go to school, Mommy!"
Of course, Logan wanted in the deal.
I kicked myself and sort of ssh'd them/ignored/distracted them, dropped them off at school and prayed that I hadn't just pulled a(nother) bad-mommy move like sending my kid to school with a possible concussion.

Fast forward three hours, Nonnie calls me from her cell phone after picking up the kids from school.
When I answer, instead of Nonnie, I hear the precious tiny voice of Austin
(ya know the one that sounds like they are much smaller and younger than they look in person)
"Mommy, can I have my 10 doll-wars to go get my Samuri SpinSword today, Mommy?
I was a big brave boy and went to school like you said."

And that was that.
Knowing how obsessed they were.
Knowing that Nonnie shouldn't have to deal with the repurcussions of a "No" for the rest of the day - I caved. 
They both got the money to get their SpinSword.

Just hoping that the BIGGER lesson and hard work of EARNING the money overshadows the,
"Hey, if I push my brother down the stairs or if I take a really big fall, I can CASH in BIG time to get toys!" 
I'll let you know in 5 years which lesson stuck. 
Any bets?

They don't light up.
They don't make noise.
The tips are made of soft rubber that bends.
 They do allow us to make super cool poses, though!

 And that little disc thing spins. Apparently that's SUPER cool!

Next life lesson:
If it's 8:00pm and Mom forgot to feed us dinner, we get the Happy Meals with the toy
 and not just the dollar menu items!

Go MOM!
;-)

3 comments:

Bobbi said...

I love the "REAL" mom moments here!!! HA, this was soooooooo funny!!! Love how they worked the Nonnie angle too :)

However, I will not be sharing this post with my son for many reasons, there is the sword itself, the bribe that he will surely catch onto, and then, the happy meal. He BEGS for one every.single.day. And, like you I never cave and never, ever,ever use it as a bribe to be good somewhere, or do something I want him to do. :)

Now, onto the next toy.........

Hannah said...

I always loved you but now I want to marry you. You crack me up! I would **NEVER** cave like that. I am a ROCK when it comes to this stuff. Seriously.

Okay, you caught me. I cave all the time. My kids are going to be so messed up when they are older but I'm okay with that. They will be grown and be society's problem by then :)

Tracey said...

I take the heat for making you get the happy meals...sorry...and that annoying bird music is just great huh?
So fun to see the boys at baseball...love the sword story...that's a keeper and a lesson for me to surely remember!