Lax Parenting

When I walked onto this scene it looked eerily familiar...like deja vu. The quote "Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me." instantly came to mind. So of course I immediately grab my camera and start snapping away. Isn't that what any normal parent would do?

Can you see it in his hair?

Brewno was having so much fun he didn't seem to mind getting splatter

Only after I had whisked my yogurt covered toddler off to the bath (he even had yogurt in his ear) and had him tucked into bed, did I begin to wonder if maybe grabbing the camera isn't what other parents would do. As I scrubbed off the table, chair, and floor I couldn't help but doubt my parenting skills. Could I be too lax?

There is no question that this scene had already been played out before (refer to It's quiet..too quiet) and I can't argue with the fact that I stepped out of the kitchen while he was eating his yogurt. The result being a masterpiece of yogurt media and Buggy as the artist. Maybe we should break this down...

Mistake #1: Giving him the whole container of yogurt.

Mistake #2: Trusting that a toddler will seat and eat his food if momentarily left unattended.

Mistake #3: Under estimating the creativity of a toddler.

Those are the mistake that are glaringly obvious. The ones that I will rightfully own. But was it a mistake to snap some photos, give a big sigh, a shake of my head, and off to the bath we go? Should there have been a timeout? A stern talking too? The reason that I didn't was because I blame myself. There was an article that I just had to read. He's only two...I think it's unfair to assume he should know better. Which leads us back to the orginal question. Are my parenting skills too lax? Do I allow my toddler too much independance?

Nahhh! I think we are doing just fine. It's only yogurt for goodness sake! Plus when it came time to clean...I had a helper.