Yesterday was hilarious. I bought suckers (or lollipops, whatever you want to call them) when I was at the Dollar Store just so I would have something on hand when there was a little injury on the farm. They are a great distraction if you fall off your bike, scrape your knee, or get some type of injury that makes you cry. I mentioned that to the kids (all under 7) and assumed they understood. Each kid got one as a little treat for behaving well in the store and that was that, or so I thought.
Next thing you know, we're back home and my 5 year old comes limping in, "Mom, I reeeealllly hurt myself." "What happened?" I asked. "I fell and I reeeealllly hurt myself." I was about to jump up and see if he was really hurt, when suddenly it dawned on me.....he wants a sucker. Sure enough, he said, "I think I need a sucker." "Uh, no. I need to see blood gushing from your leg for me to give you a sucker."
A few minutes later, "Mom! Look! I have a scratch! Look! There's blood!" I looked, trying so hard not to laugh and saw what could have been blood, but was more like a thin red line of nothing. He was so excited that a kitten had scratched him and that there was blood. He was certain this time he would get a sucker. "I need a sucker, Mom. There's blood!" "Uh, no again...I want GUSHING blood." "What does 'gushing' mean?" he wanted to know. He took his own hand and tried to scratch his arm, trying to get blood, but no blood would come. He was so mad by now. He was determined to get a sucker.
His sister came in next. She even tried to cry. She had somehow gotten a little scrape on her elbow. Again, I could hardly see it, but she was sure it hurt enough to get a sucker. Nope. "Blood," I said, "Gushing...." I got her a bandaid instead. They were fuming. I was not holding up my end of the bargain, but I was starting to weaken as there attempts to get a sucker were soooo funny. I was laughing out loud by now and they were not impressed with me.
"Ok, I'll make you a deal." (We love to make deals in our family.) "You clean up the entire front yard, put away the bikes, pick up the garbage, take down the laundry, and you can have a sucker."
"What!?" they screamed. But the next thing you know, all the bikes were put away, the toys were picked up, the laundry was down. I had to give them a sucker. They were so excited! You would think it was the biggest reward or the biggest piece of candy or a million dollars!!!! All that for a tiny little candy on the end of a stick. Go figure. We'll see what they do today to earn one. Should be good. It is funny living over here.
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