Parenting is so confusing...

The other night I was trying to convince Evelynn that not only was it a good idea to clean up her toys, but that she wanted to. Of course, Evelynn was having no part of it. After trying our more traditional methods (asking nicely, counting, time-out) I, in a moment of frustration, said to her, "If you don't clean up your toys I'm going to pop your balloon." Evelynn had recently returned from a birthday party and brought home a new balloon.

Now, I agree, threatening to destroy her balloon was probably not a very nice thing for me to do. But as I said, I was frustrated and it had been a rather long and hectic day. Imagine my surprise when Evelynn, looked at me, smiled and said, "Yeah, let's pop it dad!"

What was I to do? Here I was at my wit's end using a threat I was sure would get her to respond. Luckily I had a flash of inspiration. Switching to my fun voice. I said, "Okay, we'll pop it just as soon as you get your toys cleaned up."

Well, before to long the toys were picked up and Evelynn was eagerly awaiting dad's footfall onto the brand new balloon.

[Kaboom] (or whatever sound a balloon popping makes when written).

"Again?" she asked.