It’s Fat Tuesday, which for me means trying to eat fast food 7 times today, drink a case of Dr. Pepper and be as lazy as possible. My Lenten sacrifice is going to be giving up the fast food, pop and working out every day. Wish me luck.
As for the kids, I hope they give up a few things too. Last weekend, we celebrated Stubby’s birthday. The kids earned the first real discipline of their little lives as they were forced to miss his birthday dinner on Friday. Friday morning we were getting excited to go to Dudley’s for his birthday dinner and watch WSU hoops. The kids must have got a little too excited because at nap time they were holy terrors.
They never went to sleep during their entire nap time. They fought, played and basically yelled the entire time. With about an hour left of nap time, I got Moni up because I had to run to the grocery store. I went into their room, threatened them that if they didn’t lie down and be quiet, we weren’t going to go to Stubby’s birthday party. I left and when I got back home, Moni was in their room and the boys were all sitting against the wall while Moni was cleaning.
After I had left, they took their sheets off of the mattresses, pissed all over them and Laine had taken off his pants, removed the vent from the floor and pooped down it. Needless to say, it stunk and the kids were in BIG trouble. I had just changed the sheets and cleaned their blankies so that was a waste chore.
They were not very happy, but they got an entire afternoon/evening time-out. They were really mad when Moni went to Stubby’s birthday party and we all stayed home and watched the game. They kept begging me to turn it to Sprout, but every time they would talk, I would say, “Be quiet. You are in time-out.” The boys sat on the couches and Danna was on the rocking chair from 4-7:30. I think the extended time-out worked because we haven’t had a problem at naptime/bedtime for the past 4 days…knock on wood.
Pius in timeout…pretty sad about it.
Forrest…probably was the most angry…that’s not a fake face.
Danna is shocked she got into trouble from Daddy.
Laine with his tale between his legs…he knew he had done something wrong.
The kids did get to go the next day to Chico’s for dinner for Stubby and I think they learned their lesson. Since our 3 hour time-out they have acted a lot better. I think that was the first time they realized they missed out on something because of how they acted, so hopefully they will behave a little better when we threaten to take something away.
Picture of us administering a timeout.
Other than all of that, it was a great week. I hope next week’s post is another “uneventful week” post.
Billy, Moni, P, F ,D and L
9 comments:
I love the pictures. But from a Grandma's perspective you were a little harsh. Love Grandma Vicki
A good friend of mine is one of the best parents I know, with two well behaved children (now adults). I was surprised when she told me that she had disciplined them by sending them to their room and making them sit on their bed for the rest of the day. I was shocked, because she seems like such a softie. She said she only had to do it a few times, because it really sunk in. I wish I had done that a few times with my own kids, instead of giving in to their promises to be good. I think a few serious punishments would have saved a lot of grief. Good for you for sticking to your guns and having high expectations for good behavior.
Thank you Anon. That was a very nice comment, and it is refreshing to receive positive feedback from strangers!
Billy
I have a 6 yr old son and we went through a rough couple of months where nothing was working. We went so far as to take away his birthday party with his friends (I would never take away a family party) and amazingly enough, he got the message. Seriously, we had tried everything! We took away ALL of his toys (only books allowed), ALL his art stuff and grounded him to the house...didn't work. The fact that he couldn't go to Chuck E Cheese was the driving force behind his behavior change. AMAZING! I love having my little boy back! Keep up the good work...not sure how you do it with 4 as I can hardly handle the 1 I have! Glad you started young! I think it will save you in the long run (speaking from hindsight here). Take care!
Are your kids potty trained?
"ARE YOUR KIDS POTTY TRAINED?"
To answer that question.......
Yes. The boys are all potty-trained except through the night. Them wearing diapers was another part of their punishment. "BIG BOYS" know how wrong it is to play with their poop (or crap down a floor vent). Since they acted like babies, they had to wear baby diapers for the rest of the day. They had to prove to us they knew how BIG KIDS go potty and so we allowed them bathroom breaks a few times during their timeout (and a short break for dinner, in which they had to sit quietly at the table and eat in silence).
Danna, on the other hand, is not ready for the big girl potty just yet. We tried, but she showed no interest or desire to train. We figured we'd get the boys completely trained and then do an intense potty-training bootcamp for Miss Peanut. Billy and I did NOT have the time or energy to concentrate solely on Danna while the boys were still a little hit and miss....and that girl is gonna require some serious one on one attention when we decide to do it.
She always does things on "Danna-time" and not a second sooner!
Moni
What is a floor vent? Sorry, I don't find it in my dicionary (only with meanings that don't seem to make a sense for me). Thank you if anyone can answer this for me! :))
Edina from Hungary
Billy, you look like a Carbondale hippie with the beard.
xoxo,
Courtney
FWGNFL said...
I find pooping in the floor vent saves on the water bill. But to each his own.
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