I am not a morning person.
I will fair dinkum agree to pretty much anything if the payoff is a sleep in.
Unfortunately, Maisie knows this better than anyone. And with her well-developed rat cunning, she uses it to great effect.
This morning, The Councillor had taken Joe to his school rugby match and had thoughtfully and sensibly left me in bed. Maisie was up and busying herself with all manner of girly, crap-creating activities, but she had been given breakfast by The Councillor, for which I was ever so grateful.
I should point out that although I was in bed, I had removed my earplugs (oh, we are such sexy sleepers in our house) and opened the bedroom door in deference to my daughter actually being under my care.
Anyway, at some point Maisie came in and asked me about/for/to do something – I have no idea which – and as it didn’t appear to be life-threatening, I gave it as little acknowledgement as possible. Unfortunately, Maisie’s not really good with no acknowledgement.
She is, however, outstanding with an acknowledgement that goes like this – “Maisie, if you leave Mummy alone and let her have a sleep in, I will buy you….. *thinks quickly* MORE SQUINKIES”.
After double-checking the arrangement – “Today, Mum? OK Mum? Yes? Yes Mum? OK Mum” – she was gone.
So what the hell is a Squinkie? Actually, it should be Squinkies, plural, because it’s not possible to buy them individually (of course it’s not).
A small selection of Maisie's haul
Squinkies are tiny squishy little characters made by one of the toy companies that advertises on all the Foxtel kids’ channels. Bastards.
You buy Squinkies in packs of either 3 or 16 which means that compared to Zhu Zhu Pets (the previous must-have toy, which are bought individually) you get more bang for your buck. The other upside is that their squishiness means that if you happen to tread on one in the dead of night, it won’t have the same crippling effect as a piece of Lego, or worse – a Shape-O Shape.
So if a pack of Squinkies was the price I had to pay for some extra kip, then I reckon it was a worthwhile investment.
February 27, 2014
Wow I asked “what the hell is a Squinkie” and your amusingly honest observation on the subject makes it perfectly clear, I’ll be filing this info for future engagements with our little people, it could come in handy! Now what the hell is a Bubble guppy??
April 12, 2011
love the ear plugs! Is it possible the councillor makes nightly noises?
April 10, 2011
It’s gogos as a bribe tool in my house. Sounds like we have similar parenting tactics. I stole chocolate from my children today. We should start a club 😉
April 12, 2011
Haha – I used gogos on my son – before he made the leap to xbox – aaargh. You’d think he’d find something in between that would a) be cheaper and b) be more easily hidden. Still, given it takes him months of good behaviour to work up to a single xbox game, it has its advantages.
I don’t think stealing chocolate from your kids is that bad. Just quietly, I have been known to “borrow” from their money boxes… (although my kids have super human powers of deduction, and can tell- by weight it seems – how much is in said money boxes so am regularly sprung). x
April 10, 2011
Squinkies look like they would be more painful than Lego to step on. But love the fit in your bag for an emergency size of them!
April 12, 2011
No! The Squinky manufacturers are very clever people – they are soft and squishy, allowing for pain-free step-on-ingness. I can’t believe I just wrote that. But yes, you can fit a handy number into a handbag for emergency bribery purposes. x
April 10, 2011
And where might one buy these squinkies? need sleep x
April 12, 2011
I think they’re all at my place… x
April 10, 2011
Genius! Will have to check out these Squinkies ready for my own brand of bribery, ahem I mean encouragement, when necessary.
For me, it’s only been this past week when I was unwell that Mr10 finally decided that he might be able to get breakfast for himself and his sisters. While I acknowledge it should have happened sooner, I am not looking a gift-horse in the mouth and laying on heavy praise when he does it. The difference it makes knowing I can have a lie-in without whinging, hungry children bothering me is immense!
April 12, 2011
Sorry to take so long to reply! You are dead right about the kids becoming self-sufficient. My 11yo son now gets his own breakfast (under sufferance, but still..), and I vividly remember the moment when my oldest stepson made the transition to making his own breakfast. Having gone from a life of singledom to part-time parenthood, having to get out of bed to make breakfast for someone other that myself – at 6.00am – was a shock to the system! Thanks for the comment – I really appreciate it. Nx