I scream (and bribe) for Ice Cream

It is time to admit it.  I 100% love ice cream...and when I say love, i don't mean that I feel fondly about it.  I mean I really and truly cannot resist.  To me, it is the perfect food - it's smooth and creamy and comes in any flavor that will fit my mood.  Sometimes after a hard day at work, I just want a simple soft serve vanilla cone.  When I am feeling nostalgic, I always go for the cookies 'n cream because it was my childhood favorite.  Every once in awhile, I go for something sophisticated like dulce de leche.....a few times I have felt adventurous and tried an exotic flavor like green tea.

This love has taken me to a new low..something for which I am not proud....I am using my daughter Abby as a pawn to get me to my ice cream.  Abby will do anything to keep from sleeping in her bed.  Every night her goal is to end up in bed with Jason and me.  So, as any mom would do in this situation, I decided to bribe her.  At first, I would let her watch an extra cartoon the next day or play outside for a few extra minutes.  But then I got sick of watching Little Bear or Harold and the Purple Crayon.  It got too hot outside and I didn't want to have to push her on the swing or play ball.  So I decided to make this bribe beneficial to me too.  If Abby went to bed on time (without getting up to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, kiss daddy or Lucas goodnight again, tuck in her baby dolls...etc) and slept through the night in her own bed then I would take her out for ice cream.  It would be a win/win situation for both of us.  Right now, it is working out great.  She is following her sleeping rules about once a week.  On those lucky days I take her out for ice cream - sometimes it is Basking Robbins or TCBY.  Other times it may be Marbleslab.  I always get each of us the kiddie cone, just a small little taste of the perfect food.  But I am beginning to get fearful....she is starting to be better behaved, going to bed on time and almost making it all night without coming into our bed.  I know that it is unrealistic (not to mention unhealthy) to take her out two, three, or four nights a week for ice cream.  It is time for the bribery to come to an end.  So for now (it's about another year until Lucas says goodbye to the crib and hello to a bed) I must say goodbye to two things that bring a tear to my eye - the perfect ice cream cone and a little girl who cannot get through the night without her mama.