Could you just gag? Me too.
Shockingly, to my children, I got upset.
Some might think that the whole wasting of the food is what got me upset and yeah, I really do not like when the kids waste food, but this time, what really got me? The flood. The water running everywhere, down the side of the counter, onto the boys' socks, all over the floor, making a wet and slippery and hard-boiled-egg-scented-mess. And we all know what hard boiled eggs smell like.
In light of my new policy of having the punishment fit the crime - proper consequences and all that, as opposed to the standard go to your room - I told the little one that he'd have to clean the water on the floor and the older one, he'd have to wash the dishes tonight.
The 6 year old grumbled but the 7 year old? He jumped for joy. Sheer excitement.
Apparently, I have been holding him back from the funnest thing ever!
Who knew?
After dinner, I set him up at the sink, showed him how to use the sponge and soap (just a little soap; it's a hard concept for a kid who delights in squeezing a bottle of Elmer's glue) and off he went.
And he didn't do a half bad job either.
I stood there, trying not to smile, or worse, laugh, because this was, you know, a consequence and all but inside, I was giddy and dancing and laughing and doing all kinds of cheerleader type stuff.
The boy was standing at the sink, up to his elbows in water and soap, saying things like:
This is awesome, I love this!
Maybe when I grow up, I can get a job doing this and actually get paid!
I wish I could do this every single night!
Well now. This just got interesting.
Could I really have him wash the dishes every night?
Is that even legal?
There must be some sort of child labor law in this country, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But I'm not going to look into that.
Let him be happy and wash dishes, right?
And also, I really don't like to do dishes.
So you know, it's win-win for everyone.