art in a day's work: Best Punishment Ever

Little One was serving time today. Her daddy and siblings went on a semi-impromptu visit to Nana's house, but because of two previous convictions, she was unable to go along. This left me home alone with a pretty unhappy Little One. I had things I had hoped to accomplish that would be much more easily done without the assistance of one grumpy four year old. So we talked. I shot straight and let her know that a day spent with me getting lots of stuff done could be just as fun and wonderful as a day spent at Nana's if she had a good attitude. I could see her looking right through me. She knew I was trying to trick her for my own benefit, and was sure that cleaning the house and running errands with mom would never be anywhere near as great as spending the day at one of the best places on earth (Nana's house). But I must have looked pretty pathetic, because she threw me a bone, stopped sulking, and asked if she could play computer. I waffled, but then a friend stopped in for a visit, and I told Little One she could. The visit ended up lasting the whole morning. It was a good visit, setting me up with a positive outlook for the rest of my day. I was feeling so happy that I decided to forgo the planned housecleaning, knowing full well the dirt will still be here tomorrow, and take Little One out to lunch before we ran our errands. Yes, this is the same Little One who was on lock down. But she had played so nicely on the computer all morning that I had totally forgotten the whole mad, grumpy, crying incident from earlier. So we headed out and had what ended up being a very delightful day, just the two of us. We ate lunch at Sonic, bought seeds and plants at the Garden Center, and spent the rest of the day planting this year's veggie garden. It's not often I get to spend a whole day with just one of my kids. What a treat it is, especially when they are not whining.