Don't Cry Over Spoiled Milk

I made my son drink spoiled milk yesterday, and I feel horrible about it. I actually threatened time out if he did not drink it. It started out very innocent. I bought a new half gallon of milk yesterday morning on my grocery run. When Zach got home from school, I decided to make him some no-bake cookies, which once they had cooled, he was not too sure he wanted. This made me a little frustrated, but then he decided that if he had a glass of milk, he would eat the cookie. (Yes, we know that our child is strange. He chooses vegetables over sweets and PB&J over pizza.) Well, once he drank a sip of the milk, he said it tasted funny. I figured this was his ploy to get out of drinking milk, and I insisted that it was brand new milk and it was fine and he needed to drink it.

Well, this morning, I decided to have a bowl of cereal. (I must note that I am not a milk drinker. I only pour it on cereal, and then avoid it, and I use it in my coffee.) As I was eating my cereal, I noticed that indeed the milk tasted funny. I looked at the jug and saw that it expired on November 10---it was five days past the date!!!!!! I felt awful that I had made him drink it, and even worse that I had made an ordeal of it with him. I called the grocery store and informed them of the matter and they said I would be due for a new milk next time I came in.

This got me thinking....what other horrible things have I done as a parent? I remember the time that we drove on a five hour trip and when we got home, realized that while Zach was buckled in his carseat, his carseat was not buckled to the car. I remember the time that Gary and I went across the street to talk to a neighbor and left Zach watching cartoons and then he couldn't find us and was about to call 911. There are probably dozens of other "lessons" that we have learned on Zach, poor thing. With each scary moment, I thank God for His protection and I learn to be more careful, more cautious and more thankful.