anything is blog material.

I know, it's terrible but there are times when I use my blog as a medium to get back at my kids. Sometimes just the threat that I might blog about something is enough. Once I took a picture of Nick sitting in his pigsty of a bedroom, and I said "clean it, or I'm posting it on my blog." I think he cleaned it in record time.

So today when I found my daughter sobbing on the couch, and John handed me this note to read, did I run to my distraught little girl and comfort her? no! I ran to the scanner to copy that handmade card so that everyone might see what terrible parents we are.

Let me rewind-

When John goes out of town he occasionally picks up the kids "a little something" as a present for them when he comes home. Time, availability, length of trip, location, etc., are all factors in what type of present (if any) he might come home with. More often than not, it's just a candy bar purchased at the airport. However, a trip overseas for several days warrants something a little better (although he still came home with some candy bars-no complaints though, chocolate is always appreciated in this house).

Because we have 3 boys and 1 girl, there are times that he ends up getting the boys all the same thing, and then maybe something different for Madison, (of course spending about the same amount on each).

For instance, the boys got windmills from Holland (it's a land of tulips, the souvenirs were pretty girly in general)

and Madison got a cute little Dutch Girl, which John carefully picked out for her.
In London the boys got little models of Big Ben and the Tower Bridge,
and Madison got a stinking cute t-shirt, which I was really bummed they didn't make it in my size. (she won't look at the camera because she knows I'm taking the picture to blog about her brattiness)
So... Daddy gets home and the little vultures swoop in, "What did you bring us? What did you bring us?" (Really that was just Maddie and Zach, Nick was subdued, but still pretty interested to see what, if anything, besides dirty laundry would emerge from the suitcase.)

By the time it is all said and done, Maddie is pouting because a) she didn't get a windmill, and b) she only got 2 presents and the boys got 3.

Any way, John and I were discussing what a little brat she was being (truth be told, I think he spent the most on her, even though he tries to be fair, but had to get that shirt for her, cause he knew she would love it.)

So we came to the conclusion that next time he'd just get four of everything. It would be faster and easier anyway, and he'd stop treating her like the "little princess" and just treat her like a "regular child". And so we apologized for treating her any different (at least when it came to souvenir's) and promised not to make that mistake again. She'd get what the boys got.

Apparently she didn't like that idea after all. I think they made up though.