A Post in Which I Learn a Parenting Lesson

It started out so innocently. While I was busy making cinnamon rolls, I gave Rhett his own little bowl and two measuring spoons to play with. I expected him to make a mess, but that was okay because I knew I'd sweep later. What a fun mom I am!


I put a small amount of granulated sugar in his little bowl, but apparently it was not enough. He'd like to get the sugar into his spoons, and didn't quite have the necessary dexterity to do so with the initial amount. I said, okay, let's put some powdered sugar into that bowl, and hey--fill 'er up!

I'm sure anyone with a kid can tell me what happened next. He started to eat it. And I'm not talking just dipping in the finger and licking; I'm talking spoonsful of sugar. Awesome.

And by now, it's all over the place. Still, I found it endearing. What a sweet, funny boy is he! But really, that's probably enough sugar. Time to take it away! Say, "Bye bye sugar!" Should be easy, right?

And what you don't see is the temper tantrum that I'm sure every other parent saw coming. Probably even non-parents saw it coming. Yet somehow I missed it. What we had was the biggest meltdown this kid ever had. I mean, cries where I didn't think he'd start breathing again. It was great.

Lesson learned: next time I'll give him flour.

P.S. Settle a dispute by filling in the blank: The character on Rhett's shirt in the above pictures is a __________.