Keeping Promises

As a mother I find that I am often posed with having to give ultimatums, demands, bribes, and anything else you can think of to elicit good behavior from my almost 4 year old. I find that it works for the most part, but that you have to be willing to keep your word no matter how you really feel about something. You might actually have to leave that playdate where you were enjoying the conversation or box up a meal at a restaurant and eat it at home because you told your child that you would leave it he did that "one more time." Yes, we've all been there. No this is not rocket science.

Well the flip side of this also holds true. If I promise a reward for doing something, I intend to keep my word. Empty promises really aren't any good and I want my child to know that I mean what I say no matter if it's a punishment or a reward. I also want my child to trust me. If Mommy says she is coming back, then mommy is definitely coming back. I find that military kids hold these words so very closely and I hope I never shatter a promise that my kid has held so dearly.

Well, a week ago Ian was promised the water park with the water slides. When we got there it was closed. We were all disappointed. I was bummed. Ian was bummed. He kept telling me he was sorry. Every day on the way to school he would see those all so close yet so far away water slides and remind me how sad we were. Well I wanted to remedy this. I wanted to be able keep my promise and to help rid us of the disappointment. We were able to do that on Sunday afternoon!

We went to the Lions Club Park Water Park. Boy did Ian have fun! It's a really cute facility and the kids area was nice. It was about 12 inches deep and equipped with 3 waterslides and some ropes to swing on. Ian was able to swim around without me having much fear for him. Now I did keep close watch, but I didn't have to be an arms length from him and could concentrate my major efforts on Aaron.