My Parenting Has Reached New Levels

In a couple of weeks I'm going to be sharing some great parenting tips I learned at Family Camp. We returned with an armful of books and a plan to parent our kids. 

We've already seen some amazing changes in our home.

But this is a freebie. And I give myself full credit for this stroke of brilliance!

The other day on our way home from the store, my oldest daughter started screaming, "He wiped a booger on me!  A booger!"

She held up the defiled arm so I could confirm it in the rearview mirror.

I looked at my son's smiling face.  Do you know what I saw?  Pride. This wasn't the first time he had disrespected his older sister.

Passing back a tissue, I said sternly to my son, "You need to respect her.  That is very gross and when we get home, you are going to get in trouble."

We finished the car ride in silence, my daughter rejoicing in her brother's pending doom and my son reflecting on his immediate future.

And that's when I had my stroke of brilliance.

"Son, you can choose one person in this house....to wipe a booger on your arm."

He just stared at me.

And then he burst into tears.  "But that is so gross, why, Mom?"

I used the opportunity to share with him how his sister felt.

He took a minute and said, much to my relief, "Okay, I choose her," pointing to his big sister.

And she said, "Oh, man.  I wish I had known that because I just had a great one."

I didn't ask where it went.

Yes, we are that classy around here.

Once, the deed was done, my son hugged me and said, "Thanks, Mom.  I will NEVER do that again."

And I felt like I had reached an entirely new level of parenting.

I also felt sick to my stomach.

P.S.  If you know my family in real life, please resist the temptation to mention this post to my hubby. He's not exactly a fan of this parenting technique and as for posting about it, in his words, "Honey, you have to draw the line somewhere." To which I responded, "Oh, I d0.  I do."