I just spent $10 on some Dora pajamas, so my convictions about not buying into the cartoon character craze have waved a white flag. It’s over. My ideas about keeping Dora, Cinderella and Care Bears in the toy box or on the TV are over. So are, actually, my ideas about not watching TV.

The Dora pajamas aren’t a big deal. Finding pajamas that a kid begs to wear is like finding out your husband already did dishes. And put them away. In the same 24-hour period.

But the TV thing bothers me.

On our trip to Ohio we watched, what, like 78 episodes of Dora. It’s not exactly teaching her to entertain herself. My stellar parenting skills shined brightly at about mile 50 of the 450-mile trip. “Here are the books I got you from the library. Look! New books! You have one about a pigeon, one Olivia book …”

“No! I want Dora!”

“I have a Dora book, too! Here!”

“No! I wan’ watch Dora on TV.”

I looked from Lucy, sleeping, back to Abby, on the verge of going on strike. I considered the next rest stop was how many miles away? Lunch was another three hours … And I knew Dora DVDs replayed themselves when they hit the end.

Ugh. I’m not proud of this. I hit play. I got back in the driver’s seat.

(On the bright side, she counts to 10 in Spanish now. All I needed was Dora?! Does Dora teach math and manners, too!? Potty training? How to drive a car? Calculus? SAT prep? I could really change my mind about this TV thing, given the right incentive.)

Anyhow – bedtimes. That’s another thing I wasn’t going to be lax about. “If they’re well-rested they listen better, eat better; they don’t body-slam themselves on the store floor and demand chocolate when what they really need is a nap …” I know all this.

But last night it was 9:30 and I was making nods to the clock and my mom, who was still giving piggy back rides around her basement to Abby.

And then I went back to sewing.

What are convictions for, if not breaking. Next up: Chocolate for breakfast.