Memorable quoteables from each of the kids this morning:
We'll take Stomper first. He was begging and begging for us to go buy him a new toy. I was trying to help him understand that I didn't think buying him a toy was a good idea since he didn't seem interested in playing with any of the other billion toys we already have. Basically, if you want a toy, show me that you're interested in playing with toys! He tried to resolve my concerns by assuring me that if we went and bought him a new toy he'd play with it for one whole hour. He made my point for me, I think.
And Bitty? Well, the story can't be told without me first explaining that Bitty has had a very hard time with some discipline issues lately, and I've had a very hard time finding her motivation to do better. She's an absolute expert on figuring out what carrot I'm dangling in front of her - be it a punishment or a reward - and removing the power of the motivation by not caring about it. There is not a toy, t.v. show, playdate, outing, or chart that is reward enough for her to care; nor is there a time out, favorite toy taken away, banishment or whatever that is punishment enough either. And so, she has had a couple of spankings lately, administered by me. I'll just say that it works. It works so well that it actually works on both kids at the same time. As much as I hate it, I'm chuckling a little thinking of Stomper's most excellent behavior when his sister is in trouble. Well, this morning Bitty was in a full-on wrestling match with her daddy. He had her by the ankles and was dangling her behind his back. I said, "Bitty! Now's your chance to spank daddy!" And she replied, "Oh mommy, I can't spank him! You'd never spank anyone you love!" Whereupon I was instantly reduced to a 1 inch tall and very wilted mommy. Okay, it was pretty funny. That little stinker.
7 comments:
Oh, she is so good...that clever little turkey. That's hilarious!
Clever child. You won't be laughing when she's 15....
Discipline is hard - if you figure it all out let me know!
Oh, my word! That is SO Peep. As soon as I try to use something she wants or doesn't want to motivate her she totally doesn't care anymore. Whew! Super frustrating. Fortunately she does tend to eventually accomodate me as long as my requests aren't too outrageous and I hold her hand the whole time. The biggest problems come when I try to hurry her. Woa! Watch out then! Which means sometimes I feel like my whole day revolves around making sure I give Peep enough time to get ready. I was probably the exact same way at the age of 4. My mom is probably chuckling in glee. =)
I tell ya - sometimes you just can't win! I also have one of those non-disciplinable kids. When you figure out what works with Bitty let me know.
They do cut us to the quick, these children. Great post.
scott and i were just down visiting steph and dave and she was telling all about this post....it really is a winner, rachel! and yes, she is a little stinker. :) a really cute one!
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