My mom was one of those moms that insisted we behave like civilized people. Crazy, right? We had chores. We had to help clean house, do laundry, wash dishes, and take care of our dog. Mom woke us up early on Saturday mornings to clean house. None of that sleeping late stuff at our house. (Huh, must be where my kids get that "early to rise" crap. Certainly isn't from me!)
My boys know how to separate laundry, load the dishwasher (which WE didn't have growing up), fold laundry and wipe the table. But do they do it? Only separating laundry to be washed.
Are you ready for my grand announcement? This summer, these beautiful, darling children will have a list of chores. And they WILL do them. And the mouthing-off, fighting, disrespectful nonsense they've been throwing around all school year will end.
For each disrespectful act, they will have to choose a consequence from the new consequence jar. Consequences can vary from losing a video game to cleaning the toilets. Why? Because I have had ENOUGH!
You see, I seldom talked back to my parents. When I did, I remembered why it was a really, REALLY bad idea. BAD IDEA! Truly.
My mom wasn't one of those "wait til your dad gets home" types. Oh no. She would punish us--usually a spanking, not a beating--and then when Dad got home, he'd punish us. Doesn't quite seem fair, does it? But by damn, it worked!
Spanking my kids doesn't do much other than make them more angry. I try to take away things. Sometimes the success rate is higher than others, but I keep going til I find something that works.
On the flip side, if they behave appropriately, I reward the behavior. I'm not afraid to use bribery, uh, I mean, rewards.
I'll keep you updated on this chore list, reward/punishment thing. Here's hoping for success! In the meantime, I need to call my mom and apologize.
And remember, never say never!
No comments:
Post a Comment