Candy

never lasts long at my house. "Oh wow," you're thinking "they must eat a lot of candy around their place at Halloween and Valentines Day." On the contrary. My rule, because I despise candy wrappers even more than I hate having candy hang around, is that if I find even ONE wrapper on the floor/couch/table it ALL gets dumped in the garbage. Ms. R has yet to learn to be responsible with her garbage disposal after the painful lesson at Halloween; today the shoe box she had filled with Valentine candy went into the garbage. I was very impressed with her response, though. She didn't complain or throw a tantrum. She just very quietly looked at me, nodded her head when I reminded her of the rule and walked away. Once again, very quietly. You have to remember, she's five and very soft hearted. So I was kind of surprised by her reaction. That's what propelled me forward after a couple minutes to check on her. She was sitting in the front room, hugging one of her stuffed animals to her face and silently crying. I try so hard to be consistent. Firm but not hard. Be able to discipline and still be the one that they run to for loves. Fair but not a push over. Being a "single parent" you have to find the balance without getting burnt out. However, when I see her crying over an interaction we have shared it breaks my heart a little.