Lazy Parenting

Every parent has had at least one instance of lazy parenting. There are all sorts of examples-you can hear them in a place they probably shouldn't be, and instead of doing what you should, you ignore it. Maybe for a minute or so, maybe longer. When you get up to take care of things, you've got the aftermath of Katrina to deal with. That's the thing with lazy parenting-you are the one who suffers-not your kids-they are going to remember it as the time they got to fill the bathtub up with an entire bottle of bubble solution. Even if you make them clean up what turns out to be an entire tube of toothpaste squeezed out all over the bathroom, you're still going to deal with the worst part of it. Either the time lost, or something needs to be replaced, or guilt b/c you waited to see if the baby would go back to sleep, only to find out that he'd gotten himself stuck in an uncomfortable position. And we usually know that we're going to get bitten in the butt, so why do we do it? Why do we continue to sit and watch, or read, sew, whatever, knowing that when we go in there, we are _not_ going to like what we see-a beautiful painting...in the carpet...I really thought I'd get smarter with age, but as I look back at the lazy parenting moments of my life, I feel totally clueless. Anyone care to share these moments?