Things I Swore I'd Never Do

Well, okay, this is not going to be an exhaustive list because that could go on for pages!  But I do want to highlight a few things I swore I'd never do - when I had kids.

#1 on that list was Goldfish!

Why?! You may be asking me.  What's wrong with Goldfish?!  Well, nothing, really.  But because EVERYONE around me was giving their kids Goldfish by the fistfuls (especially my older sister who by default I just didn't want to do anything like), I'd decided that I would NEVER give my kids Goldfish!  I mean NEVER!  Over my dead body NEVER!  That's how serious I was.

I cannot even tell you when I finally came over to the darkside, but eventually I did.  I think I lasted all the way through Renton being in kindergarten and Emily's third birthday, and then something happened.  Might possibly be that the kids began getting Goldfish from Preschool.  So . . . maybe I was TRICKED into giving my kids Goldfish. Yah . . . that was it.

Regardless of how it started, they suddenly began appearing in my kitchen.  And not just small bags.  I'm talking the HUGE box of whole wheat Goldfish.  Okay, I will confess, I actually buy them from Amazon.com (I have a subscription and get them totally on the cheap, delivered straight to my door, twice a month.) 

Now I give the kids Goldfish every day in their little HappyEarthBags snackables.  And I think they may actually be getting sick of them because most days, their lunch bags come home with the Goldfish still in them.  What?!  This is thoroughly upsetting to me because it was something I allowed my resistance to be broken to and am buying in bulk darn it! 

YOU KIDS BETTER EAT THOSE DAMN GOLDFISH!!!

Well, that's hardly the worst of it.  I can now confess with a clear conscience that I ALSO do (or did) the following that I always swore I never would (in no particular order):

#2  portable tv in the car (the ONLY way I can get Micky in the car without a massive fit)
#3  using the tv as a babysitter (TRUST ME - this is just a necessary evil - get over it)
#4  sippy cups in bed (this is an old one, sometimes you just gotta do it)
#5  letting the kids sleep with me in bed (can we just say - exhaustion!  And as my mom says, they're not gonna graduate from high school sleeping with you)
#6  sleeping in the kids' bed (once again, I blame exhaustion)

While I'm confessing here, maybe I should also include a list of things I never swore I wouldn't do, but probably should have.

#1  Letting the kids go three days or more without taking a bath
#2  Eating popcorn for dinner
#3  Eating cereal for dinner
#4  Not eating dinner
#5  Playing with my phone . . . while sitting on the toilet (Micky, not me)

I guess the point is, don't be too hard on yourself, especially as a parent. Do your best, set goals, but by all means, be flexible, allow yourself to break your own rules every now and then. You will not survive any other way.