Parenting Pays

Once while out shopping, my husband saw a terrible child and quietly slipped our kids each a quarter “for not being that kid.” It became a family “thing.” Sometimes the kids will see awful behavior and just hold out their hands. This joke persists to this day.

When our son was in high school, he and his dad went to a game shop. They were standing in line when another family came in. The mother in the other family was awful. She was swearing and rude and pushy.

Our son silently looked at my husband, pulled a dollar out of his pocket, and gave it to his dad. Later, he said that the woman was so awful that his dad deserved a dollar for “really, really not being that parent!”