I don’t claim to be the world’s best mother. I have a tendency to lose my temper a little to often. Fast food is occasionally on the menu. My son doesn’t always read the allotted 15 minutes per day and I can’t say that either of them brush their teeth twice a day everyday.
I know…parenting failure.
Or really? Am I just human?
So, the other night, the hubby wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early. I realized that it had definitely been two or three days since the little one had been bathed. I jokingly posted on my Facebook page that, “I am too pregnant to bathe my child. Trying to decide if I should leave her to stink or bribe her to let me spray the important parts.”
You see, I am totally not beyond bribing. Yes, I know, it is not the best parenting technique but sometimes it is just necessary. However, on this particular night, I took it one step further. I busted out the ultimate tool…peer pressure.
And then I felt kind of guilty.
You see, when I made my FB post, one of Lu’s friends Mom’s mentioned that her 4 year old already takes full fledged showers. So when Lu was all cuddled up next to me, peering over my shoulder, I clicked said friend’s photo and said, “Look, Mya’s mom said that Mya takes big girl showers. Do you want to take one?” To which Lu promptly and adamantly said, “No.”
I wasn’t surprised. She hates showers, sprayers, sprinklers, rain. Basically any water that is moving. Sometimes I worry that our neighbors are going to call CPS because she screams bloody murder when we are trying to get the shampoo out of her hair.
However, about three minutes later (and apparently after some thought), she said, “I will try it.”
I did a little dance and rushed her right up to the shower. I didn’t want to give her even a split second to change her mind.
She asked me at least twice on the way if Mya really did take showers, to which I smiled wide and said, yes.
Oh, laying on the peer pressure.
And guess what the little princess did?
She jumped right in that shower and started dancing and singing. She soaped herself up, helped me wash her hair and she didn’t shed one tear. About every 2-3 minutes, she would remind me to “tell Mya’s mom that I am a big girl.”
So I did.
After all was said and done, I secretly felt guilty and proud that my coercive peer pressure parenting technique worked and also I was a little worried. I don’t want Lu to be the type of kid that jumps of the bridge because the other kids told her to. I want her to be an independent, free thinker, maybe even a leader. I want her to be brave and bold on her own time table and I am hoping I just didn’t make a horrible parenting failure.
But if I did, at least I know she will be clean when she jumps off the bridge.
Ha ha ha! Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Why is it as parents, or maybe its more as mothers, that we analyze every parenting decision we make? I do it all day, every day. I bribe Baby C with her favorite snack (cheddar bunnies) all the time. Baby C has a friend that is potty trained, maybe I’ll use your peer pressure trick to get her to. Ha ha!
Sometime peer pressure is a good tool if used correctly. You wouldn’t use a shovel to fix a roof! So she wants to shower like big kids. No big deal. Isn’t that what growing up is all about? We take pictures of our kids wearing our shoes and wanting to be like us don’t we? I told my kids that my nephew, who couldn’t do anything wrong ever in their eyes, loves shrimp. “Oh Vinnie, likes shrimp. Then we will try it”. They loved it. And that was the first type of meat my picky eater daughter ever ate. Now I pray Vinnie continues to walk the path of perfection they have laid out for him. Or we will be having a lesson in “Good people make bad choices” one day. Love ya girl!!!