Sweet things Brady says... about being a parent...

For years Brady has taken whatever reward scheme I have going for him and turned it around and made one for me.

If he has a chart, he makes me a chart. If he has a prize box, he makes me a prize box filled with his own toys. I give him a $3.00 allowance per week and he gives me five dimes. I don't want to take his money of course, but it would hurt his feelings if I turned it down so I just use it on stuff for him.

He wants to take my parenting techniques and try them out and he doesn't have a little sibling to do it with, so he does it with me :) An odd deal since a kid can't parent the parent, but it helps him understand how whatever system we have works.

Last night he said the most amazing thing.

Brady: "Someday I might have a kid who gets into trouble sometimes."

Me: "Yes, you might."

B: "You know what Mommy. You have such good plans! I'm going to make a prize store for my kid too!"

Me: "That's awesome! I'm glad you like it. I'll bet they'll like it too."

B: "Some kids at school are so good they never have to pull pennies." He names them.

Me: "Well, making good choices comes easier for some kids."

B: "It's not easy for me to make good choices all the time."

Me: "I know, kiddo. It's okay. We're working on it. We're a team."

B: "I'm going to be a team with my kid someday too."

And then I hugged him just as hard as I could, both because he's so dang sweet and because I felt reassurance from his words that the things I'm doing (at least for the moment!) are having the impact I'd hoped for.