Fro up.

Oh what a list of "I'll never let my kid...." I had when I was childless. Some of them I was awful enough to verbalize. Some of them I just noted in my head.

One thing on my list was bakery cookies in the grocery store. I swore I'd never use food as a reward for my daughter acting like she was supposed to... Fast forward--not only have I realized that a toddler hanging out in a grocery cart for 20 minutes peacefully is considered a record in their little world, I've realized how difficult it is to grocery shop when they are unhappy. I've made friends with my local grocery store bakery ladies. I even know which bakery ladies give us two cookies (we always try to catch their eye when we're waiting at the counter, by the way!). I have consoled myself by telling myself it's a good opportunity to teach Genevieve to say "thank you." Pretty lame, I know. But let me have my delusion.

Last week my mom and I were in the grocery store with Genny, and it was late in the afternoon, so Gen's limit on shopping peacefully was about 8 minutes. I asked my mom to take her to the bakery to retrieve a cookie. They came back, and Genevieve was putting the pieces of cookie in her mouth as fast as mom would give them to her. Apparently Mom and I looked like we were hungry and about to take the cookie.

As we drove home, the fast eating revisited us as cookie was "fro'd up" all over the little girl. She was just fine, but I got to do a little extra laundry that night. And I got to remember how silly I was to EVER say "I'll never let my kid..."