Daddy the Hypocrite

2 years and 9 months to the day and my son is already calling me a hypocrite. No the actual word "hypocrite" is not in his vocabulary yet but he's got the idea down pretty well. The worst of it is that he is absolutely correct.

On father's day we were driving up to Sonoma Train Town around noon. He was napping. It was hot and I was thirsty. I got into Sonoma and he was still asleep so I went to a gas station and bought a bottle of ginger ale. I have to digress for a moment. Earlier in the weekend we were in a restaurant or a store (I don't recall) and he said, "Want soda pop." I told him that soda pop was bad. It makes people fat, it is bad for your teeth, it is unhealthy, it can cause behavior problems in kids, etc. He got the message; soda pop bad. So he wakes up from his nap as we pull into Train Town and as we are getting out of the car he sees my bottle of ginger ale. He says, "Soda pop bad. Daddy drink soda pop." He has repeated this accusation at least five more times since then. I should give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe it's not an accusation but concern. Regardless I've sent a mixed message.

So what do I do? It's not like I'm a huge consumer of soft drinks, but when it's hot that bubbly sensation just feels good. I guess I'm just gonna have to give it up. No more sugar/acid/water for Daddy. Does this mean that I'm going to give something up every time he points out a contradiction? No. But if I can't maintain some credibility through the toddler years what hope do I have for the teens!?!?! I guess it also means that I'd better watch my broad declarations of good and bad. Finally one thing that I do know for sure is that soda pop is bad and that I'd sooner let him drink beer. He cringes at the very smell of beer, but soda pop is like crack for kids his age.