What I never thought I'd do...

Everett has a friend--"the other Everett" from our ward who is three weeks older-- over today for a playdate, and so since the boys are so happy together watching a movie and eating popcorn (if only for a few minutes), I thought I'd get a blog post in while I can.

You know how when you're growing up and you see a mother letting her kids do something you think you don't approve of, you think something along the lines of, "Well, I would never let my child do that." ? I was thinking the other day about all the things I do as a mother that I never thought I would do. Here are some off the top of my head:

1. I never thought I would let my child walk around outside with bare feet. But since Everett takes his sandals off the minute we get in the car, sometimes I just let him walk inside with them off. This means that they stay in the car and when we go back out to the car he has to walk barefoot again.
   
   
2. This was more when Everett was a baby, but I never thought I'd let him watch movies until after he was two. Hah. I don't know why I thought that was so vitally important, but then I got pregnant and had morning sickness and movies kept me sane. And now, well, I have a toddler who is a hundred times more energetic than me(surprising, I know) and movies help give us both some quiet, sitting-down, boisterous yelling-free time.
   
   
3. I always thought I would only give my children fruit or vegetables for a snack. Yeah, this was an impossible goal. I know there are a lot of mothers out there who manage it, but sometimes grabbing a handful of pretzels while we're running to go somewhere is the easiest solution. Or, sometimes I just don't have the energy to fight him to eat a few apple slices when I know neither of us will get anywhere, so I just give him what he asked for.
   
   
4. I never thought I would let Everett have a bottle (with only water in it) at night after we moved him to his toddler bed. That was a feeble goal. Fortunately the pediatrician has never had a problem with it, and so now I figure that if he's happy and healthy and generally happy to go to sleep, we're doing fine. That, and if he doesn't have it during the day (which he doesn't).
   
   
5. This doesn't have a lot to do with kids, but I always thought that I would get up and make a good breakfast for Joel and Everett every morning and we would all sit down to enjoy it together (insert appropriate sentimental music here). My family did this every morning thanks to my wonderful mother, but I suppose I've been holding off because usually when the boys wake up, Ashley needs to be fed and then I just end up getting Everett some oatmeal. Maybe when we have kids going to school we'll actually do this, but I'll probably say the same thing then, too.
   
   
6. I never thought I'd turn a blind eye to something Everett is doing that he isn't supposed to (like taking all the flowers out of my vase). But I do, all the time. I figure that if he doesn't know I know what he's doing, then I don't have to punish him, which would be really inconvenient seeing as I am probably feeding Ashley.
   
   
7. I never thought I would let my kid(s) eat on the couch. Everett has a snack on the couch almost every day. This will change in a few years because by then we'll probably have a new couch that I'll be paranoid about not staining. Right now we have a (very washable) slipcover on an old couch, which is great.

Well, I know there are more and I might add some later if I think of some. But I was wondering--what are the things you never thought you'd do...or think you won't do in the future? I'm curious to hear what they are. Maybe we can all have a good eye-rolling, forehead slapping, what-was-I-thinking, laugh together.