Raising Kids,

My Husband Told Me I Can Sleep With Eminem

I had a dream.  My husband and I are in Detroit eating at a restaurant.  Eminem approaches our table.  He turns to my husband and says, ?I will sing two songs at your son?s Bar Mitzvah if I can have one night with your wife.?  Shocked, my husband and I turn to each other and he says ?See you in the morning honey.  I think I am going to sleep in, so be quiet when you come back.?

So Eminem and I head back to his mansion.  I think we are going to get nasty together, but really he talks to me about his mother all night, he starts sobbing, and I end up rocking him back and forth in my arms.

I make him assure me that he will still sing at Ben?s Bar Mitzvah.

I wake up from that dream with one question on my mind.  Would Eminem have been good in bed?

No, not really.  I ask myself a question I am always struggling with.  How far should parents go to please their kids?  When my son was a baby and wouldn?t sleep, I would take him in the car, in the middle of winter, and drive him around until he fell asleep.

When my daughter is having a tantrum, and I should send her to her room, I offer up ice cream.

We all do so much for our kids.  We want them to be happy.  But am I making them happy, or spoiled jerks?  I think they might be happy jerks.

As parents, we aren?t doing our kids much good giving into every whim just because we want them to be happy.  It is our job to teach them they can?t get everything they want, things aren?t always going to be this easy, and it?s okay if you aren?t always happy.  If we don?t do this job now, they will enter the big mean world and expect everything to be handed to them.

They won?t want to work for anything, they will end up coming back to live with you, and then you will have to start all over just when you and your husband started enjoying the sweet taste of freedom.

So if your kids are being a jerks, discipline them, if they want the newest gadget, make them earn it.

And on a personal level, Eminem, if you are reading this, I am still available, and I would like you to sing ?Lose Yourself”, and “Not Afraid? on Nov. 3 of this year.

Superficial Tip:  With all the money you are saving now that you have stopped buying stuff for your kids, go out and buy yourself something pretty as a reward for being such a good mom.  One of my favorite shopping sites: asos.com

Jen Ross, Author ?Don?t Wear Sweats Or Your Husband Will Leave You?

Tags: humor, moms, raising kids,