I was about ready to hog-tie the 10yo today. He was egging on the little ones, being rambunctious when I specifically asked him to settle down and generally ignoring my instructions. I was already frustrated for unrelated reasons, and I finally just got tired of hearing myself talk and made him do push-ups. (Push-ups are the baseline discipline in our house — everyone can do them, and they are great for taking care of infractions on the spot.)

Anyway, he settled down after the little ones went to bed and even asked if he could come to the grocery store with me. (Nothing like waiting till Sunday night to realize that you don’t have drinks for school lunches the next day!) I let him “drive” the buggy, and as he started to exit an aisle, someone else came careening around the corner. He immediately stopped, backed up and politely said, “Go ahead” to the other person.

I patted him on the back and said that I appreciated how he handled that. He glanced up at me and said, “My mom taught me to do that.”

I said, “Oh, really? She sounds like a pretty neat lady.”

He smirked and said, “Yeah, she is.”

Ok, fine. Brownie points earned to redeem your bad attitude earlier in the day! 😉  A kind word will go a long way in making me remember how stinkin’ adorable you really are.