Stickers Don't Count as Surprises

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I sometimes have to travel for work. It's never very far flung or all that often. But it comes up now and then.

Most of the time, I'm only gone for one night. Sometimes I'll attend a seminar or conference that keeps me away from home for longer periods of time.

Our family rule is that if I'm gone for two or more nights, I have to bring a surprise to the kids. It's never anything extravagant. Usually it's some swag that I pick up at an exhibitor's booth at a trade show, or some other little free "gimme". Other times, I've had to go out on a special trip to pick something up for them.

This past week I was in Dallas attending a seminar on social media marketing. I was gone Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and home late Thursday evening. This necessitated a surprise. There were a few vendors at the seminar, but they really only had brochures and other "grown-up" information. A few of them were giving away branded pens, but there was really nothing that a kid would like.

And then I saw it. HubSpot, an Inbound Marketing company from Boston, was giving away stickers! Kids like stickers, right? Dude and sister always have, so a sense of relief washed over me when I found them. And these weren't just any old stickers. These were BIG oval-shaped stickers with HubSpot's squiggly orange brand on them. These stickers were cool!

So when I arrived home at 9pm, Dude and Sister were still up. Dude had reminded me about getting them a surprise every time I'd talked to them on the phone while I was away. And now that I was home, the first thing out of his mouth was about the surprises.

Once I was able to walk in the door and put down all my stuff, I dug out the stickers. Sister was out of the room, and Dude was first up. I asked him to close his eyes, and when he did, I placed the sticker in his outstretched hands.

At first, silence. Then the poochy lip. Then, Dude burst into tears.

"I didn't want a STICKER! I wanted a TOY!" Oh, I tried to show off all the great things about this particular sticker, but he wasn't having any. He cried and I consoled for a few minutes, and then he agreed to put it on his shirt. It was okay, but he still really wanted that Incredible Hulk toy. He just couldn't believe that they didn't have them at my seminar!

Sister was cool with it. She loves stickers of any kind. Thanks, Sister!

So HubSpot, I'm sorry to say that stickers - and specifically YOUR stickers - don't count as surprises.

Photo courtesy of Maria chanourdie.

Apparently, I Don't Know About Food

Wow! It's nearly been a month since I've updated you on things. Needless to say, we've been very busy - both at home and at work.

So I decided that I would sit down and do a quick post while I was inspired to do so ... and mainly before I forgot what I had planned to write about.

Picture this. The family is sitting down - at the table! - for dinner. I made a pretty dang good meal, if I do say so myself. Broiled Tilapia Parmesan. Green beans. And alfredo noodles.

As Sister and Dude were doing everything but eating, I announce that there is ice cream for dessert if they eat a healthy dinner first.

We don't make them clean their plates around our house, but they do have to - at the very least - try everything. Then the negotiating begins. Sometimes it's half of an item, sometimes it's two more bites, and still sometimes it's 4 more green beans. A little of everything is all I ask. Is that too much?

So when I told Dude that he needed to eat some more dinner before he got his ice cream, it was on! He burst into fake tears and whined that it was too much. He couldn't do it. He didn't like it. Again, I stated that there would be no ice cream unless he ate some dinner. Again with the whining.

Then I told him that if there wasn't room for dinner, then there wasn't room for ice cream.

"NO!," shouted Dude. "YOU JUST DON'T KNOW ABOUT FOOD!!!"

Oh, really. I DO know how to get kids to eat their dinner, though.

I just got myself a bowl of ice cream, sat right back down, and ate it right in front of them. This time, they knew better than to ask where their ice cream was.

Sister and Dude actually ate everything I asked them to, and just finished up their own bowls of ice cream.

Ahh, problem solved.

Photo courtesy of St0rmz.