Maternal ethics 101

Mommy dilemmas. Sometimes seemingly mundane choices can have momentous consequences.

Take the following examples:

She falls asleep before brushing her teeth. Do I wake her up from her beloved (by me) sleep? Or...

Let it slide, and possibly let the "sugar bugs" rot her teeth out? They all fall out anyway, right?

The kids ask for a chocolate, and there's one left. Do I sacrifice my own wants and let them have it? Or...

Risk purgatory by telling them that the chocolate is all gone. We all know where liars go...

I've been dying to wear these shoes. Do I throw caution to the wind and sport them at church next week? Or...

Be reasonable and, knowing that Jesse always makes a break for the pulpit, save myself a snapped fibula.

In case you're wondering, I swirled a toothbrush around in her unconscious mouth, they got the chocolate, and I have embraced my inner mama-frump. If you're a childless size 8.5, they're yours.

Little mirrors

We've hit that point where my children reflect my unknown flaws right back in my face.
Did anyone know that I grunt when I get frustrated? Why didn't someone tell me?!? Now I have a 3 year old Neanderthal living in my house who snorts or groans at the slightest catastrophe. And I taught her that!
She isn't always subtle in exposing my weaknesses either: "Mommy, why are you always so cranky? I want Daddy to stay home with me." Ouch. She even made up a song to comfort me in those far-too-frequent bouts of melancholy. Most moms of girls have probably heard this song, but Alaina's lyrics go as follows:

"Everyone gets cranky sometimes
It's ok to hit, and it's ok to bite..."

I promise I didn't teach her that, but I must say I'm impressed with such creativity, which I have to assume was also learned from me. In fact, I'll go ahead and shamelessly claim that my kids learned every positive trait from yours truly. Alaina already has a talented ear for music and complements every stranger with "you look beautiful in that shirt!" or "I just love you!" So let's just say I taught her that. Jesse is showing signs of brilliance with his verbal abilities and sleuth-like escape tactics. Must be from my side of the family. (Let's just not mention that his father is a summa cum laude PhD candidate with an MIT acceptance and a perfect GRE Math score.)