i know better….

but i still buy them.

do you ever buy something that you don’t really want to buy, but you think your kids will really love it and so you buy it anyway-against your better judgment?

i have gotten wiser over the years and this is usually a test i give myself when i go christmas shopping:  of course my kids will love it, but is it really something i want in my house; is it a toy/gift I will love?  if not, i have learned to pass.  my kids won’t know the difference anyway. 

but this time, when i saw those stupid otter pops, i had a lapse in judgment and bought them.  these were my justifications:

• they’re super cheap; i don’t mind supplying the entire neighborhood with these summer treats
• they don’t have to all be stored in the freezer at once
• i haven’t bought them in years
• my kids are older now; they won’t be as messy

but otter pops still drive me crazy- for the same reasons they drove me crazy the last time i bought them and swore them off.   they are SO MESSY!  you’d think my 12, 10, 7, 5, and 4-year-old would be responsible enough to put the wrapper in the garbage.  you’d think those same responsible-aged children would also be capable of putting the 1-inch snipped off tip of the otter pop in the garbage.  you might also think that these great and wonderful children of mine would remember to FINISH the otter pop before they set it down on the counter or the floor and had it melt all over the place. 

if you think these things, you’re as guilty as me.  i have come to the conclusion, once again, that my children are irresponsible.  i cannot step a foot into my kitchen or backyard or front porch or even girls’ bedroom without finding these beauties littering the ground:

and these annoyingly sticky puddles all over every surface of my house:

and yet, i bought them again when i was at costco yesterday. 

    

damon’s gonna kill me.