The Stay at Home Mom Chronicles: Bribery and chaos.

I'm realizing that my days around here seem to run together.
Ordinary moments unfold around me daily
and I need to stop and relish in them.
One day, my boys will be out living life
and I will miss these everyday experiences.

So, I am taking the time to document
the simple moments that pass between us.
I'm calling this little collection of memories
The Stay At Home Mom Chronicles.

4:00 pm Bribing my kid so that
I can talk on the phone in peace.

Mommy likes to talk on the phone sometimes.
I have some very dear girlfriends that
live near and far that I try to chat with pretty regularly.
I need it for my sanity.

Of course, Griffin uses that time
to try to get my attention at all costs.
I have learned that if I want to
talk in peace that a good ol' fashioned bribe usually does the trick.

I'll turn on the TV and tell him
that he can watch Spongebob for an hour.
He can sit and pretend to live in a pineapple under sea
I don't care...as long as Mommy can talk on the phone.

That usually lasts about 20 minutes
and then he is on my heels again.

He'll say "Hey barnacle head, get off the phone!"
and I instantly regret
letting him watch Spongebob.

So, I do what any Mom desperate for adult interaction

would do...I bribe him with candy.
I just assume that if his mouth is busy
licking a lollipop then he's too busy to intterupt me.

I shamelessly dole out candy as the hour progresses.
Without missing a beat of the phone conversation I'll say to Griffin...
"Here's some Starbursts, Mommy loves you,
now go on in the living room and let me talk to my friend!"

He scampers off with a head full of sugar
and as I continue my phone conversation,
chaos breaks out in the living room.
He jumps all over the furniture and
a wild rumpus unfolds in the background
as I try to have a heartfelt phone conversation.

He laughs and yells and I don't even care,
as long as I get some time to chat on the phone.

By the time I finish the conversation and hang up
he usually has stripped down to his
skivvies and looks something like this

It's a small price to pay for some much needed "me time".
I know that when I look back at the lengths
that I would go to to carve out a minute for myself that
I will smile and remember fondly
the days of bribery and chaos!