I am the winner!

Have you heard about the meanest mom competition? It is an ongoing battle between all moms to be the meanest most awful and horrible mother on the face of the planet. At least this is what I tell my kids every time they complain about something I am making them do/not letting them do.

The conversation always seems to go something like this:

Connor/Sophia: But, that't not fair. You are being really mean.
Me: I am trying to win the meanest mom competition. How do you expect me to win if I treat you fairly all the time?
Connor/Sophia: You aren't the meanest mom! You take care of us and that is really nice. You are never going to win.

A while back Connor and Sophia were playing one of their favorite games. It's called "Let's see who can scream the loudest at each other and in general be completely obnoxious!" This is not my favorite game. We were in the car on the way to the grocery store and there was a promise of ice cream in the works.

We stopped the car and I gently explained to them that because they decided to scream at each other at the top of their lungs, there would be no ice cream. I wasn't rewarding this kind of behavior with treats.

The tears came, the pleas of give us one more chance, the promises of doing better.

And yet, I was unmoved.

The next day we had a conversation like this:

Connor: It was really mean yesterday when you took away our ice cream. You didn't even give us a warning that you would take it away if we didn't quit.  You just did it.
Me: I don't have to give you a warning to stop screaming at each other. It is never an okay behavior.
Connor: You really are the meanest mom.
Me: Finally.

This kid has it rough. 

Can't you tell?