Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Three words rarely spoken...You are right.

Today the weather was beautiful...40 degrees and all the snow melted off. We decided it was a good morning to take Oscar and his bike and Poppy in the stroller for a stroll on the near-by trail. The plan was that Oscar would ride his bike until he got tired...then he would hop in the stroller and we would leave his bike on the side of the trail while I ran a mile more and then back to his bike for him to ride it back to the car.
He was very convinced that he would be able to ride the full two miles out and back. I let him stop and go for the first mile and then I asked him to park his bike so I could get a little run in(I'm a mean mom I know) . He then told me that he was sure he could keep up. So I said ok...I'm not going to slow down and when you can't keep up you can get in...ok! Ok...30 seconds later he said..."ok mom YOU ARE RIGHT!" I'll get in. Woo hoo! Finally a battle I win! After my short little run we arrived back to his bike and he was happy to ride back to the car.
I should mention here that there is a stream that runs by the trail, this morning it was a bit more of a river...There were some sweet puddles along the side embankment of the trail which to any 4 yr old boy seem very tempting.
Oscar repeatedly asked me if he could ride his bike off the trail into the ditch and into the puddle. Each time I would say...no, ride in the puddles on the trail...you'll get stuck down there and I'll have to come rescue you. We would then ride on until the temptation would overcome him again and he would request permission. Finally I said ok, go ahead...you'll see.
Down the embankment he went and stuck straight in the muddy puddle. His big eyes look up to me...stare at me...I stand there waiting to see what he is going to do. He tries to move his bike but it's no use. It's stuck. He then says "mom can you help me". (I also should mention that I'm controlling the stroller with the dog attached. ) I look like a circus act trying to keep hold of the stroller on the trail while reaching down trying to pull his bike out of the mud. After retrieval he says in a nonchalantly way "yeah mom, I guess you were right".
Twice I win!!! But I only win both times after letting him fail. I somehow I feel that this is a foreshadowing of things to come. As delightful as it is to hear "you are right" I would rather that he just heed my warnings.

11 comments:

old warrior said...

What a mean mom! Just wait until O is a teenage O (blink your eyes twice and it will be here..). Then the tests get a bit more interesting...

mummy said...

I think its progress that he came up with the right thing to do after trial and was able to admit he was wrong and his hero mom was right. Thats a big step many of us never accomplish. Some of us are stubborn enough to keep going the wrong way so we don't have to admit we are wrong.

Abby Norman said...

You are right.

mamma letty said...

Thanks!

mummy said...

There once was a little boy about 10 who, with his sisters was to stay with grandma and pa while his parents went on a backpacking trip. The mother was fairly excited since her and the pa could go at their pace and for as long as they wanted without listening to any grumbling. They had planned on going at least 50 miles on a nice loop in the Wind Rivers. At near the last moment they boy made it known to his kind ol pa that he wanted to go. The kind ol pa gradually introduced the idea to the ma. It had to be introduced the right way or the old ma wouldn't stand for it. The old ma finally said ok. She warned the little boy that he better not grumble or complain and he better stay right on his pa's heals. The boy agreed. After dropping the sisters off the three-boy and ma and pa were off stopping in Evanston or Kemmerer for new shoes. The boy went the whole way without a grumble sticking to his dad' heels. He never quit. Everything he ever made for a goal he put in his every effort to accomplish-never quit. Oscar's got those genes

mummy said...

I went out in the freezer for some chicken and was once again reminded of the 3 boxes of sherbet left over from your wedding. Do you think I should dispose of it?

mummy said...

However given some thought we might need that sherbet someday

mamma letty said...

now that it is 6 1/2 years old!!!

mamma letty said...

Instead of our wedding cake we kept sherbet...maybe you could save it for our 20th anniversary!

mummy said...

Lindsey now has a blog. You can get to it from a link on abby norman's blog

A. Buchanan said...

way cool, me and lisa have concluded that is what we will do to. let them decide and when they come back to our door bleeding, we will let them back in...jk