Following through

So today Jack was supposed to go on a cross country, and since it was his first trip away from the kids (even if it was for only a couple days) since Top Gun, I wanted to treat them to something fun...like a dinner at McDonald's. I feel bad for Tre because every morning he still asks if daddy is going to work for a long time again. Anyway, Jack's cross country got cancelled, but since I had already gotten them excited about McDonald's, I wanted to follow through with that. However, this afternoon Tre was misbehaving...throwing toys, talking back, aggravating his brother, etc. I warned him that if his behavior didn't improve he wasn't going to McDonald's. It didn't....until he realized that he REALLY wasn't going to go. In the last five minutes he was hugging and apologizing and pleading. My heart was feeling so sorry for him because I knew how disappointed he was, but thankfully, Jack was helping me stand firm by being the one to stand firm. Jack and Tre stayed home and I took William. I was proud of us for sticking to our guns. I hope that he has learned that mommy and daddy don't give empty threats!