Although we did some fun stuff in school this week, I opted to skip the Fun Friday #3 (there was an ocean food chain diorama and a visit to a Korean restaurant involved) to tell you about the tough love that's currently being implemented at our house. Maybe your home is different from ours. Perhaps you have the most responsible, respectable kids around, but we don't. It seems like there's constantly something breaking at our house or somthing being left out in the yard, or simple chores done in haste and haphazardly. This week, there came a point where I couldn't take it anymore. Literally, one more second and I would've exploded into a thousand, jillion pieces. Soooo, instead of having that big ol' screaming FIT my insides wanted to have at my kids. We sat down to a family meeting.
And boy what a meeting it was.
The immediate end result was that the boys had to stop schooling, listen to our 'issues' with their behavior and then go out and scrub the compound walls for an hour. The long term consequence of not 'taking care of business' is that all their toys - yes ALL OF THEM are currently in baskets on top of my closet. We are hoping to only have the toys sequestered for a week, but behaviors don't seem to be a-changin', so it might just be longer. I hope this drastic parenting choice turns out to be just the thing to turn this stuff around. To make these two guys understand the value of having 'stuff' and the value in taking care of that 'stuff'.
The tough thing is that Jonathan is going to be away from home for five of the proposed seven day toy hiatus. I was dreading hearing, 'I'm bored' and 'there's nothing to do' comments from kids. I'd already make a mental list of jobs to be assigned in the event whining about boredom occured. But we are three days into this deal, and it's not been that bad. The boys are drawing and making things out of paper or playdough to play with. So far, they are holding their own. I've still had to give reminders about picking up and straightening and bringing things inside, but overall I think we might be headed in the right direction.
Oh, and I'll be sure to let you know when the toys return to their appropriate locations, as I'm certain some of you (namely my mother) are thinking 'poor kids'.
3 comments:
Love it (in a good way), and I'm not thinking poor kids. I'm thinking....let me know if it works. ;)
I've found that some of Daniel's best behavior is during and following a major punishment or grounding. Of course that only makes me think "why didn't I do this sooner!" or "why don't I do this more often!" One of the most successful groundings was during Halloween when my husband was out of town and 'no candy' was one of the rules. Needless to say we both survived. I know you'll have a good outcome, too!
Not thinking "poor kids"....thinking.....GO MOM!
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