So, admittedly, I’ve been puh-retty lazy lately.  I’m with child.  I’m working full time.  I’m just, plain exhausted.  There, I said it.  If I could lay on the couch 18 hours a day, dammit, I would do it.

But I think I’m a pretty excellent mom for the most part.  It even said so in Jonas’s developmental evaluation (the one where I thought they were evaluating him only; turns out, they were assessing my parenting skillz as well.) Good thing I passed with flying colors!  I was called "kind" and "attentive" and "caring".  Doesn’t that mean that Mom gets to rest on her laurels for a bit?

"Absolutely Not!" says the toddler in the room.

"So," says the 33.5 inch high hurricane, "while you ‘rest’ Mom, I’m going to go over here and push all the buttons on the TV.  Then, I’m going to pull every DVD out of the cabinet and pile them all around myself.  Then, after that, I might take to hitting the dog for a bit.  Really, I’ll do anything at this point to get you to shift your attention back onto me instead of your own selfish need to relax your aching feet and back."

At first, Bad Mom is kinda pissed.  "Jonas!  Stop hitting the dog…. NO!  Don’t push that button!"

Then, she realizes that her child just wants her attention.  Good Mom pulls out the blocks, and asks toddler to play.  He spends a good 30 minutes totally fascinated with his new block-stacking skillz, and is so appreciative of Good Mom’s clapping and cheering that he has lost all interest in pushing buttons or hitting dogs.

So every time my son starts acting out, I stop and think to myself "Somebody needs some attention…. let’s give him the good kind."

So, a big thank you to my son for never, ever, EVER letting me rest on my laurels…..or my ever expanding ass.