My son can have a bad attitude.
Me: Time to get in the car, E.
E: NO. I HATE THE CAR.
Insert school, television, slides, popcorn, his sister, a tree, leaving anywhere, me and pretty much anything that catches him in THE MOOD. He may have loved school, television, slides, popcorn, his sister, a tree, leaving anywhere, me and pretty much anything, just yesterday. But in this particular hour? He is very happy to hate with loud fury.
But, of course, I’ve come up with the perfect response. Because I’m the perfect mom.

I'm pretty sure perfect moms ignore their kids for their iPhones SOMETIMES. And there's a small chance that we are looking at something more educational and less Angry Bird.
Alright fine, but it IS still the perfect response:
Me: E, I’m not a fan of this bad attitude. Where’s your good attitude?
E: I can’t find it.
Me: Are you even looking? Because I really need you to find your good attitude.
E: But it’s so HARD. I may have left it at home.
Me: Look around carefully, E.
E: Oh Mama, here it is! In my pocket!
Me: Great news, sweetie.
E: I’m going to swallow it now, Mama!
Me: Um, okay.
I glance in my rear view mirror and see this:
TADA! Now, where’s my award?












{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
I love that he ate it! I think my oldest son ate his good attitude, as well. I may ignore my kids, too, for my iPhone.
Elena recently posted..Mommy Knows Best
awesome…I need to find my good attitude so I can have my daughter find her good attitude and eat it
you so win. cutest thing ever.
andygirl recently posted..Song Sunday- Rill Rill
No KIDDING! You need an award for sure! I discovered ‘smile in my pocket’ a while back. I might accidentally punch it onto her face instead of place it, but don’t tell CPS
Mom Went Crazy recently posted..Always Right
I’m totally going to need to try out this “swallow your good attitude” thing on my kid. Especially next time we leave the beach cause this last time was pretty darn epic on the bad attitude scale!
Alyssa recently posted..Its French And Not Just the Fries
Haha! That’s adorable! So that’s where kids keep their good attitudes….
Alison@Mama Wants This recently posted..Gratitude 3
Oooh, I am sticking this little parenting gem in my pocket!
Uh, how would the good attitude battle and defeat the bad attitude if he HADN’T swallowed it? The bad attitude was already INSIDE him. Makes perfect sense.
KLZ recently posted..A Very Merry Unbirthday
I checked my pockets and my good attitude doesn’t seem to be there. Can E offer some insight into other places it may hide?
Abby recently posted..World News with Scooter Cat
I wonder if this will work on my 18 year old….
I just checked my pockets, and my good attitude isn’t there. Have any other ideas where it may be hiding? Maybe you could send E my way to help me find it!
Sarah recently posted..Under Siege
LOVE it. The Roo often has to find his “happy heart”. That has never been found in his pocket though. Usually it is in his bedroom or the bathroom.
) And I am not ignoring my children to type this…
Adorable!
Skye recently posted..Welcome Summer
Fabulous!
I tell my son to “find his happy face” and that only happy and helpful boys skip naps, so he better find it if he wants to skip his nap. Of course, there is no way he can stay happy and helpful until dinner, so I still get a nap time most days.
dollimama recently posted..A Rare Gem- Sitting with Mama
That’s an AWESOME attitude and an amazing smile.
I don’t have an award for you, but don’t sue when I copy your method to ward off madness.
Oh my god I need this almost every day. For Hayden AND for myself. I am so using it.
The Sweetest recently posted..I Just Don’t Want to Stop
Too cute!
NotJustAnotherJennifer recently posted..Love Trumps Everything
That’s awesome! I will remember that one.
AKeo recently posted..Let It Go! Not That Much- That’s Better
That’s great! I love how he just changed his attitude so easily! Now, if that could only work on my girls life would be perfect.
Jackie recently posted..Great Places to Visit in Michigan
Can you have him send some of that to our house? I think we could all use a dose of whatever he swallowed!
Martha recently posted..The Dilemma- Race vs Status
Whoa.
Would you please check his pocket and see if he has MY good attitude in there too? Preferably before you do laundry…
Jenni Chiu recently posted..Summer lovin’- Because I didn’t want Google to dissapoint
I wonder if this works with 13 year old female middleschoolers!?!
Hmmm….I’m definitely gonna try it.
It sure beats the “be the change you wanna see in the world’ conversations we’ve been having. Those are going over real well….sigh.
This is genius. Now all I need is a few more months of verbal skills for the Big dude and I will implement stat. Nice work Alex.
Also, have you heard of the fear bottle? You just fill a plastic bottle with water and put in food coloring. When he’s afraid of something hand it to him and say: “this is your fear. you can decide how much to pour out at a time, but when it’s all gone, you aren’t afraid anymore!” It is equally amazing.
Kate recently posted..In Pictures- Wordless Wednesday- Or Something Like That
This should be on the cover of “Good Parenting”. Or “Good Behaving”, I’m not sure. But cover-worthy, totally cover-worthy.
huh. maybe I need to look in my pocket next time. And I usually take my good attitude and shoot it up. wait. what?
i don’t do drugs.
damnit. this is awkward.
Katie recently posted..welcome to vlog talk
I love this. At least he’s humble enough to say he found it. … I think it’s because he’s a boy. That’s something my son would do but not my daughter.
I’m so using this the next time my son brings out his attiude. Which is like constantly now that he’s three.
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