Day 7

Day 7 of the strike! Well, what should I do with the hoodlums on day 7 of the strike? Let's start with a few timeouts! Lauren earned two timeouts by about 8:15am. Let me also say, that this was AFTER I told the kids that we would go to the Puyallup Fair. I expected "yeah mom" or "whoohoo". What I received from the oldest child, was "you are the worst mom ever". Why? Because in preparing them for the fair, I wanted clear guidelines. The first guideline (or rule) was that I was not buying them crap. No, I did not use the word 'crap'. But, I made it clear that they would not be receiving any Sponge Bob inflatable balloons, crazy hats, sand birds, plastic swords, tieras, or any other "toy" from the fair. Lunch and scones, yes! Crap, no.

I then told them that they could each pick one ride of their choice to go on (having already discussed that the fair costs money). Since the ride tickets are $.85 each, and the most "expensive" ride was 5 tickets....they could each pick one ride to go on. I thought that was fair. And furthermore, that is the usual deal. Apparantly Lauren had other ideas. She craftily discussed bringing her own allowance so she could go on more rides. I nixed that quickly, as a 40-second ride for $5 doesn't seem like such a great idea for a child who saves about $2/month. I discussed other items she wants to buy in the future, etc. Anyway, long story short, Lauren threw her tantrum and sassiness over me telling them I'd take them to the fair to have scones, lunch, see the baby pigs, etc, and go on a ride. I explained that she was being selfish and ungrateful, and to look at a way to be thankful. Then I sent her to time out! Mason on the other hand looked at me and said "oh, mommy. One ride! Thank you". "We go to fair and I go on one ride". He was as sincere as could be too. I guess that's one of the benefits of being "chromosomally gifted".

Well, after the morning scuffle, we did indeed head for the fair. Mom & Grandma came too. The pigs were cute. The cows were huge. The scones were excellent. The Krusty Pups were good too. And Lauren didn't ask for one thing! As it ended up, it was cheaper buying 7 rides total, than the 5 individual coupons for the rides. So, the kids went on three rides. The Tiger Growl (or something like that...the roller coaster); Scrambler; and Giant Slide. We also met up with Mason's friend from school last year, Zach & his family.

We were there a few hours and came home. Lauren had Girl Scouts. Then we had dinner. Mom babysat and I went to a mom's group at Kindering Center. The end.