Bribery, a Wonderful Parenting Tool

I had to do it. I had to go out an get groceries and there was no way I could wait until James was home. Panic and fear set in but then I decided to overcome and control my destiny. I pulled out the suckers and I bribed my children. I promised suckers and a trip to the train station if they behaved.
We headed out to Shop Rite. I hoped to plop them in a regular shopping cart before they noticed the fancy, difficult to steer but oh so kid enticing carts. No luck. They spotted them and immediately wanted to ride in them. Fine, I can do this. I had a heart to heart and basically told them that if they so much as stuck a finger out of the cart I would transfer them to the regular cart. Also, no sitting/pushing/licking/biting/whatever else they could possibly do to each other. Big doe eyes looked back and said, "Yes Mommy". I so don't believe that look, they totally know how to play the game.
We headed into the store and I was quietly cheering that the cart actually had functioning wheels, what a treat! The boys lasted about 2 aisles and then remembered that they wanted suckers. No problem. I pulled them out and distributed them. Nice big Jolly Rancher suckers, should last quite a while. I had my list ready and I completed my shopping as quickly as possible. I doled out several wipes but there were no major problems. I was filled with relief as the suckers lasted until the last aisle (talk about good timing). I headed to the check out and piled the groceries on the belt. They were still behaving but it was obvious that their patience was running out. They both started to lean on each other but a reminder of the best treat that was yet to come quickly put them both back in their proper places. I got out of the store with my sanity still in tact and two children without mild concussions from cart mishaps (refer to previous post). Thank God for big favours!!!!
A quick stop at Starbucks and we headed to the train station. Jameson had a small meltdown when he realized that his train whistles were at home. An overlook on my part, I'll remember next time. I told him that if he had two choices; he could continue crying and we could head directly home or he could stop crying and we would go to the train station. An obvious choice, even for a 3 year old. So glad he chose to stop crying since this also involved Stellan.
We arrived at the train station and ended up waiting 30 minutes for a train. I had the time and they deserved the treat so we gladly waited. Besides, I had Starbucks to keep me company. :)
There were four trains that all arrived within 5 minutes of each other. The boys were so excited and appeased enough for us to head home. How wonderful that they love the trains so much. I don't know what I'm going to do for treats/bribes when they outgrow the fascination of the trains. Let's hope it lasts at least 2 more years. :)
When we got home I praised them and even called daddy to loudly sing their praises. Hopefully the intrinsic rewards of good behaviour will one day outweigh the extrinsic rewards that I have to offer to maintain my sanity. It's just a matter of survival right now.

Ear Ache

Poor Stellan has yet another ear infection. :( A short while after he woke up from nap yesterday he started crying and told me that his ear hurt. (I have to say, it's great when the have the vocabulary to put words to things, makes figuring out the problem a whole lot easier.) Stellan is prone to ear infections so I can't say I was surprised. I called the pediatrician and she had an opening in 30 minutes. Once again, well worth the co-pay for that kind of service!!! They took us as soon as we got to the office and the nurse told me to take off his shirt. Seemed easy enough. But then again, we're dealing with a cranky 2 year old. I tried to take off his shirt and he threw an absolute fit! The doctor came in while he was screaming and said it was fine for now, just let him be. Good first impression son! The doctor was very nice though, no complaints. She warmed up the stethoscope and was able to do her initial check with little resistance from Stellan. Then it was time to take off his hat so she could look in his ear, after all that's where the problem was. Seeing as he threw a fit when I told him he had to wear the hat, I figured it would be relatively easy to take it off. Uh, sure. Another screaming match followed and we decided just to lift up the ear flaps when necessary. Jameson told the doctor that it was Stellan's left ear that hurt (so smart, distinguishes between left and right) and sure enough, it was inflammed. She had to take out some ear wax to make a definite assessment. Uh oh, that hasn't gone over so well in the past. Sure enough, history repeated itself. He was screaming and flailing as she tried to remove the minor obstruction. (It sounds gross but it wasn't too bad.) I was literally holding him as tightly as I could so he would be somewhat still so she would perforate his ear drum or something. Sheesh, what a work out. The doctor did her thing and then prescribed an antibiotic. Well, at least he loves medicine. She gave me a sample of motrin to give him right away to help alleviate the pain. My medicine loving child decided to be stubborn(wherever does he get that trait from?!?!) and said, "No medicine". Whatever. I asked a few more questions and then we headed on our merry way. We made a pit stop in the lobby because the boys decided that the toys at the doctor's office were more fun to play with than the ones at home. Lovely, spread the germs!
Stellan willingly took his medicine before bed so I'm hoping he's well on his way to recovery. Poor angel (who screams like the devil).

What a Kid!

I was busy making harvest loaf in the kitchen when Jameson walked in and said, "Mommy, I looked at my watch and it said it's time to play with play dough".
How cute is that?

A busy weekend

We had big plans for the weekend. Phil and Adina and their three kids were coming as well as Paul and Amy and their three kids. We had plans to go swimming and then to go to Yardley, PA for the light show at Shadybrook Farms.
Everyone (minus Phil) showed up around 1 o'clock. We had some chicken noodle soup (yummy, I made it from scratch) and egg casserole. We packed up the suits and headed out to pool. We were a bit worried that they weren't going to let us all in since we are technically only allowed 2 guests. (Is 9 a stretch?) We got in no problem. The sign on the door mentioned that the heater was broken so "swim fast". (It literally said that.) The kids didn't seem to mind and the dads were willing participants and got in with the kids. The kids splashed and jumped around for over an hour. We headed back to the change room. Stellan was wandering around and happened to look into a shower stall. The old woman snapped, "Don't look!". Ease up lady, he's not a little pervert, he's just a curious kid. He won't even remember what he saw (thank God for small miracles). Oh well, some people are just nasty and bitter. The ladies were waiting in the foyer as the guys were finishing their showers and the nasty old lady came through. She pushed her way through us, knocking into some of us. As she was leaving I called out after her, "Have a wonderful day!". Merry Christmas too lady!
We headed back to our house where the kids played and the adults sat and relaxed with a cup of coffee. We then ate chilli and salad with some warm bread from the Amish market (yummy bread!). We piled in our cars and headed out to Yardley, PA where we planned on taking a hay ride in order to see the Christmas lights that were set up throughout the farm. Jameson and Stellan both fell asleep within minutes of pulling out of the driveway. They were exhausted from the swim and neither of them had a nap. I was thankful for a bit of peace and quiet. We got to the farm only to notice that traffic was backed up for miles. Amazing how many people were waiting to get in and see the lights. We scrapped the idea of a hayride and decided to drive in our vans and see the lights that way. The kids were still sleeping so I figured I should wake them up so they could enjoy the lights as well. I literally had to shake them, call their names, and poke them in order to wake them up. Thankfully the lights distracted them or else I know that they would have been miserable. Stellan opted to join me on my lap in the front in order to have a better view of the lights. It didn't last long, he wanted to sit with Jameson in the back seat. Neither of them liked it too much so I ended up having the two of them on my lap. I had made some chocolate chip cookies so we were able to enjoy them during the ride. I have to say, the lights were fantastic. At first it was just a bunch of advertisements and I was quite concerned. Once we got into the farm though the lights were much better. There were holidays characters as well as religious scenes. We drove through light tunnels and saw light covered trees. There was even the a display for the Twelve Days of Christmas: 12 drummers drumming, 11 lords a leaping, 10 ladies dancing, 9 pipers piping, 8 maids a milking, 7 swans a swimming, 6 geese a laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Pretty impressive. We wanted to sing along but the boys didn't appreciate it. Maybe next year.
We got home and put the boys right to bed. What a great day! Long and exhausting but great fun. We love it here!