Tear Strips and Other Life Lessons for Children Everywhere

I hate Costco.

That's not true.  I love Costco.  I hate Costco-sized products. No, that's not true, either.

I hate storing Costco-sized products with children in the house.

For starters, children think: Supersized Boxes of Snacks = All-I-Can-Eat-When-You-Aren't-Looking.

And if the box is unopened? It should be perfectly acceptable to pull off the tear strip and throw it on the ground.

I'm old and tired and sick of bending down to pick up your trash.  I'm sick of going downstairs to the freezer or storage area to "open" a new box of Whatever and finding it near-empty. I'm sick of picking up the tear strip you threw down when you ripped open the box or bag without asking.  I'm even more sick of finding an empty box.

How freaking hard is it to carry the box to the trash????!!!!

Oh, I get it.  If I catch you carrying the empty box upstairs to the trashcan, I might "yell" at you for eating an entire box of Whatever.

You're darned straight I'll yell at you.  You don't like getting yelled at? STOP DOING WHAT YOU KNOW YOU SHOULDN'T DO!!!!!!!

Simple.  At least that's what we rational, mature people think.

If I yell at you for eating an entire box of cookies for the umpteenth time and you don't like it...stop eating an entire box of cookies!

If I yell at you for leaving your trash behind for me to pick up and carry away...stop leaving your trash behind!

If you get tired of me "reminding" you to clean your room/do your chores/pick up your clean clothes I lovingly washed, dried and folded/etc., etc., etc....stop waiting for me to tell you what you already know you need to do!!!

I've been called a lot of names in my 38 years of child raising.  A LOT of unpleasant names.  Mostly for simply doing what a responsible mother should be doing...teaching, correcting, reminding, cajoling, punishing, and yes, sometimes even yelling if that's what it takes to get your attention.

You don't like my yelling???  Do what's right. Do what you've been told to do a trillion times before. Believe it or not, I don't like yelling.

In short, if you don't like the way I treat you, look at your own actions before criticizing mine.

Are you listening yet?