Threats

The other day I was pushing Avery and June in a shopping cart through Home Depot when Avery dropped whatever it was she was playing with on the floor. Again. I picked the thing up and handed it back to her with a threat: "Next time you drop this, I'm not going to pick it up." An older gentleman, whom we happened to be passing just then, raised his eyebrows and muttered a sarcastic, "Uh-huh." I had to laugh. He had obviously been in my shoes.

I swear a good 80% of the things I say to Avery these days are threats to get her to do what I want her to do. I became even more aware of this when she started threatening me.

For example, one day she was coloring and grabbed my grocery list for a little sprucing up. I caught her and told her not to draw on my list. "I will if you don't listen to me," was her reply.

Another time I had just pulled a hot sheet of cookies out of the oven and Avery made a beeline for them. I told her not to touch them because they were still hot. "If you don't be nice to me, I might touch the cookies. On purpose," she threatened.

Am I really that bad? Yes, because she is, too! ;)