lessons learned today...

How to push a broom. Here’s the back story…I had a 9x13 glass Pyrex pan of brownies on the stove, on the back burner. They were already baked, they were just chillin’ there.  I turned the front burner on to heat some water for my tea, at least I thought it was the front burner. I was pouring some Cinnamon Toast Crunch for Alex for breakfast and I smelled something burning…it was my Pyrex pan or the brownies rather. I thought about putting the pan in the sink with cool water but I took it outside to the back patio instead. It was cool outside and I thought it would be a good spot for it to cool off. I went back inside and 30 minutes later there was an explosion.  Turns out that my glass pan literally exploded into tiny pieces, the brownies that were left in there flipped out of the pan and landed on the ground.  I was shocked but SO thankful that I decided to put it outside instead of in my kitchen sink!! That could have been a disaster.

Anyway, since I needed to sweep up the glass, this was the perfect consequence for the 11 yr olds tantrum he threw earlier.  I decided that he was going to sweep the patio. I put the broom in his hand and said “get ‘er done”. He looked at me like I was an alien and replied, “I don’t know how”. I didn’t laugh b/c I realized that I have never taught this kid how to sweep a broom. What kind of parenting is THAT?? I gave him a quick lesson and he was sweeping up in no-time. It got me thinking…what else doesn’t he know how to do and why am I slacking off on this parenting thing??  I thought the other chore I could teach him is how to do the laundry…sorting by colors, looking for stains, spraying the Zout, measuring the soap, etc.  Once we were done he hugged me and said “I am so glad I’m not a stay-at-home mom. It’s really hard work”. I hugged him back, kissed his head and said “you have no idea, kid”.