Supermoms don't eat fish food

Yesterday was a "good mom" day. I will tell you why, but first... something funny.

I went downstairs to see what he-who-cannot-be-trusted was up to. He had goldfish food dumped all over the floor and was spreading it around and playing in it. (Amazingly, what looked like the container's entire contents, was only a small portion). Fearing that he had eaten large amounts, I asked him if he had tasted it. He said yes. I asked him again. He said no. I continued to ask him, and he continued to say no. So I decided to try another tactic.

Me: Did the goldfish food taste yummy?

E: No...

Me: Did the goldfish food taste yucky?

E: Yeah.

I'm still not sure if he tried it, but I am certain that if he did, it wasn't very much.

So here's why yesterday was a "good mom" day. My friend Kathryn gave me a great idea as to how to get E to take naps. I tried it yesterday and it worked! I told E he needed to lay on his bed for one hour and then he could watch Thomas & Friends. I set a timer and showed it to him. Everytime he got up I made him get back in bed and I added a few minutes to the timer. He didn't really like it, and everytime I made him get back in bed he cried and screamed. But-- and here's the "good mom" part. I didn't get mad, I didn't yell back at him and I didn't spank. I just calmly told him he needed to do what I asked and then he could watch Thomas when his nap was over. I thought he would just hang there for an hour without sleeping, but with 20 minutes left on the timer, he fell asleep! I felt good because he took a nap, but more because I stayed calm, I was firm and he was "earning" something that he wanted. If I keep this up, E just might turn out to be a fine young man one day. Well, that's all for now. Supermom signing off.