Tough Love

Tough Love can be hard and every parent experiences it. It may come as a shocker but Parker doesn't have to be reprimanded or punished very often. This may be surprising because anyone who knows Parker knows he constantly has 1000 questions & Million ideas so there are many opportunities for learning life lessons. He is full of dreams and thrives on new adventures. Well, today was one of the times that I did have to step up and share some tough love. It really wasn't that big of a deal, more principle. Parker walked into the kitchen and looked at me with such a charming smile and said "Mommy I love you!" I replied with a little uncertainty "I love you more!" Then he pointed to Paxson's room and said "Paxson did that." He did what Parker? "He untied all those things." What things Parker? "Those things on his bed." (The ties on the bumper pads) I looked at him and said Parker, Paxson didn't do that, he doesn't know how. Parker looked at me "You're right mommy, Paxson didn't do it, I did." Why Parker? We have talked about this before, plus you lied, who gets sad when you lie...blah.....blah...blah... you get the picture. Well, Parker sat in his room and watched Paxson and I play. He watched through his window while we played outside in the horrible heat (but I thought it would be a little more effective even if I had to pay the price, because the lives to play outside) for a bit and apologized and attempted to help me tie all the ties back and promised to "never ever again untie the ties!!!"


Now Paxson, he is a different story. I sense that his learning lessons may entail slightly more occasions for Tough Love. He constantly cracks us up, well I guess cracks me up, Casey doesn't find his strong sense of independence as funny as I do. Just as he so strongly showed us, the other day when he was upset about his push-up. :)