From Mr. Handsome:
A couple weeks ago, Ellie was too busy to grocery shop, so she made a Walmart pickup order and asked me to retrieve it. It had been a long day, and I could sense that she would enjoy a break, so I asked Little Buddy if he wanted to come along.
He replied, “No, Daddy, I would rather stay with Mommy.” I tried to convince him how much fun it would be, but he was clearly not interested. Really wanting to give Ellie a break, I resorted to bribery. “Maybe we can stop for ice cream after going to Walmart,” I whispered in his ear.
That did the trick, and he jumped into the truck, shouting “Let’s go, let’s go!” After picking up the groceries, we stopped at Sonic. (I know, I’m so classy.) Little Buddy got his own kid-sized hot fudge Sundae. It was a beautiful spring evening, and we ate our ice cream at a table outside. As I was soaking in the moment with my son, he started getting cold. “Mommy would have brought me a sweatshirt,” he stated. I knew he was right, as Mommy is always prepared.
When we returned home, Little Buddy ran inside to tell Mommy about his adventures and his ice cream sundae. “It sounds like you had fun,” replied Ellie. I smiled and waited for Little Buddy to say how much he loves Daddy. Instead, he stated, matter-of-factly, “Well, I would have rather stayed home with you, Mommy.”
I guess I learned my lesson, bribes don’t work on my son, which I suppose is a good thing.