Uh-Oh, Spaghettio

It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be going right. I was late picking Patrick up from MDO, they hadn't fed him lunch before I got him so he had to eat in the car, the check engine light came on as we left the church, and I was stressed.

Even after Patrick got off on the school bus successfully, with a full belly, all his clothes, and on time, I was still cranky. I was already at the end of my patience when Nathan decided to play around with lunch.

He started throwing his food over the side, a new habit he's picked up that Amber loves as much as I hate. I warned him in the mommy voice, gave him the mommy look, and watched as he smiled his impish grin and did it again.

I was debating whether he would understand a time-out and what the next best punishment would be when he did it one more time. One more puff hit the floor, and Amber dove for it.

I put on my best, most stern face and was ready to launch into punishment mode (which I hadn't quite decided on yet) when he got that glint in his eyes and said it: "Uh-oh, spaeeo!"

I fought the smile back and pulled the finger out (you know which one I'm talking about--the lecturing pointer finger) to try yet again to discipline him.

"Uh-oh! Spaeeo!"

This time I gave up and dissolved into laughter. He had me beat, and I knew it. Instead of turning the misbehavior into a teaching lesson for him to learn obedience, I let him turn the moment into a lesson on living in the moment for me. So Amber got one more puff--at least I don't have to clean the floor of the mess.

It was much more important to take the moment to enjoy my crazy boy and congratulate him for not only saying for the first time the phrase I'd been working on teaching him, but to have chosen the absolute best moment to spring it on me.

But now I know just how far advanced his manipulative skills are. I think it's going to be interesting staying a step ahead of him in the coming years.