New Word for a New Year

Because I love words and gifts, I'm giving you a word-gift: mompromise.

I doubt I'm the first one to come up with this word, but let me describe the specific etymology of my particular usage.

The kids fight.  All the time.  I don't know what to do about it.  I try to be the fair one and intervene but it's not like organized sports where I can assign one a penalty and set them back in motion.  They fight over: who is touching whose toy; whose toy it is; who is touching whom in a way they don't like; who ate the last ____ ; who gets to hold the book during story time; who sits in the front on short trips... and I feel like the Grinch because to myself I'm thinking, "Oh the noise, noise, noise, NOISE!"  They fight over who gets to pick what we watch on TV, and who gets to sing along.  That's right; they fight over who gets to make the rules of the game, so often, the easiest thing for me to do is make a threat to end the game.  I hate to do that, though, because I don't want them apart, I want them to get along.

That's why this morning as I was tidying up, and I heard two kids singing "No more spiders jumping on the bed," I was glad.  They were both enjoying doing something together.  They were also jumping on my bed, which is what put me in a mompromised position.  Should I tell them to stop singing right now, get off my bed, because you two know better, etc., or... just let them get away with the lesser evil?

I chose the latter, because I've become so worn out from their constant friction with each other that some rule-bending was worth it to grease the wheels.  Of course I didn't say this out loud.  I just pretended to not notice they were breaking the rules, though inwardly, I felt torn.

So there you have it, the roots of the word "Mompromise," provenance: Martinson home.  Short definition: Allowing kids to get away with almost anything as long as they aren't fighting with each other.

Will I pay heavily for this?  Perhaps.  Is this the parenting compromise leaving me the most guilt-prone?  Not in the least.