Thursday, January 8, 2009

Who are you punishing?

One lesson I continue to learn is that before I hand down a punishment or tell them what will happen is to carefully consider who actually gets punished. One night that stands out was when Jackson would not do something I asked him to do, like brush his teeth. I told him that if he did not do it he would not get rocked and read to by the CFO (Mommy to him.) I looked up to see the CFO with a look that said "you are punishing me" on her face. Sure enough, he did not do it and she did not get "cuddle" time with him that night.

Or when I say "that's it, no more TV today." It is out there so I can't take it back but I am thinking "OH fiddlesticks (much worse words fly through my brain) what am I going to do during bath time?" See, I bathe one at a time while the other two watch TV. If not I am having to break up altercations between the non-bathing siblings:)

But don't worry, I am just waiting for the day that I can use peer-pressure to my advantage. One does something wrong, everyone pays:) Hey, it worked in Full Metal Jacket.. well, it sort of worked there:) I already have Mini-Mommy (Addison) backing me up. Today I sent Jackson to time out and he yelled "Glowy!" (Glow worm) as usual. I said "If you go to timeout and face the wall I will get you Glowy." He has a habit of turning around and pushing the rules. Addison helped out by grabbing his closest Glow Worm and taking it to him. But when she got there he turned around. She pointed her finger at him and babbled something... he turned to face the wall and she gave him his Glowy. That's my girl!!

The CFO getting some cuddle time with the Triplets.




I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
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Al

1 comment:

Denise said...

Ahh, so true. Who is really suffering from the punishment. I think that often with the teenager after she has been grounded for a week and still has a week to go. I think I pay for it more than she does. Things aren't much better with the trio either! Cute picture of Q and the trips.