When all else fails... Bribe!

(Two years ago...) As soon as I found out I was pregnant from the twins, I went to Borders and purchased every parenting book available (and a few for dad). Since I was in the hospital for 10+ plus weeks, I actually got around to reading all of them including parenting magazines. Yet as soon as I we arrived home from the hospital with infants in tow, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. Kinda like reading a "how-to" sign on swimming cpr, and then having to actually perform during a real emergency...

This month has truly been challenging, in part because Ed and I have been working long hours and feel guilty disciplining the boys since we don't see them as much. And the twins have been really taking advantage of that! At the brunch buffet, "Eat your food, and we'll take you bowling tonight"... A few Sundays later it has become a Sunday ritual to go bowling!

Max and Eli are eating icecream well past there bedtime on a school night, because I could not get them down from the McD's jungle gym. We barely made it to the car when they fell asleep. This simple event caused a devistating chain reaction the following morning. They didn't shower that night, which ment they need to get up earlier to shower (which they did not want to get up for). This battle caused us to miss breakfast which then made everyone cranky. Then of course, I could not think of what to prepare for lunch, so I ended up making them a bologna sandwich, which they ended up eating on the way to school, so I had to take a detour to a grocery store and purchase lunchables. By the time they arrived to school, class had started and we inturrupted reading time which got all the other childred wound up to find out why Max and Eli were late. Yikes, what a morning! As I sat calmly in my car to 30 seconds and breathed in and out and I kept repeating to myself, "This too shall pass..." (it's from my parenting class w/ Ms. Martha)... and guess what, it did, and when I went to pick them up from school and headed straight home, we were all happy again! (ps: we still do "Sunday Bowling" however we no longer visit "McD's)