Laundry or Ice Cream?

Like most families, our mornings around here are pretty busy. I usually wake up too late, there's a good chance at least one person is grumpy, and I am almost always late to work. But as long as everyone is wearing clothes that generally match and have eaten some type of breakfast, I consider the morning successful. This morning, Brynn apparently had her heart set on wearing a specific outfit that required a white tank top that was nowhere to be found. I told her that I would make sure it was washed this weekend. THAT was not the answer she was looking for.
Brynn is a precious little thing with a big heart. When she's happy, she's REALLY happy, but when she's upset, she's REALLY upset. When the wails begin I know one of two things is going to happen. 1- I either engage and get fired up as well. This scenario results in both of us either crying and/or yelling at each other. Not pretty. 2- I can mantain my cool and we separate. I don't engage until she is calm enough to talk to me about the situation. This morning I chose option 2...
After Brynn calmed down we had a talk about a choices. The day before had been great- I had a good day at school followed by a very successful parent-teacher conference. I decided to leave that mess on my back table and pick up the kids earlier than normal for ice cream. That evening was great too- we all sat on the couch, watched TV, cuddled, and laughed. Yes- we had hot dogs and raw veggies for dinner. Yes- the laundry was over flowing. Yes- our cleaning lady was coming and the house was a wreck. But we made the choice to leave it all and enjoy each other. I apologized to her, but explained that every day we have choices to make. She seemed a lot more understanding when I explained that I chose HER over the laundry. ;)
There are days when I stay at school way too late instead of taking the kids to the park. There are days when I spend too much time worrying about the dishes in the kitchen or the never ending to-do list. I get worked up over how unorganized I am or how messy the house is. But you know, some days you just need to choose ice cream!