Oh, we are very mean. But it's more of a delicious, one for the parenting manuals type of mean.
Brown Sugar had a very rough day Friday. Her attitude stunk, obedience was non-existent and it just didn't get any better by bedtime. Our dilemma was that we were going to Hershey Park on Saturday and didn't feel we could reward her behavior with such an outing.
So we talked about not taking her and where we could send her for the day. However, many of the places we could send her would still be fun in her eyes: Nana's where she'd have to endure meals of nutty bars and ice cream, her BFF Chicken Nugget's house where, well, they would do BFF stuff, and various other friends who all had kids that she could play with and have fun. And we didn't want her to have fun.
Then, the light bulbs came on and we had a most brilliant idea. We would take Brown Sugar with us to Hershey Park And. Not. Let. Her. Ride. Anything. She'd have to watch us and the other 100,000 people at the park having a grand time on all the rides she enjoys. It was a brilliant plan and one that could reap us good behavior for months, even years to come.
So the next morning we told her that this was her lucky day. We had decided she could go to Hershey Park.........she just couldn't ride anything. She agreed to the terms of the day, I think hoping that we'd forget the 'not ride anything' clause by the time we got there.
So off we went and struck gold since the day was looking overcast and the park was not crowded. And when the park's not crowded you can do a lot of rides in a short time. So hour one we did about 7 rides and then hour two we made our way to another 5 or 6. I have to hand it to her, she kept a brave face and seemed to take her medicine like a woman, not complaining once that she had to sit on the sidelines.
By the end of hour three the sun was out and the crowds were becoming heavy. We parked ourselves over at the Boardwalk for the remainder of the afternoon. That's when Jim took Brown Sugar aside and acknowledged her good behavior that morning and said that he had brought her bathing suit with us. If she continued to have a good attitude and obey, she could swim in the wave pool.
Okay, you bleeding hearts, breathe. The girl did get to enjoy Hershey Park but she learned a lesson that morning, more so than if she had been left behind where she wouldn't have had the opportunity to think about her wicked ways while watching others have a great time on many of her favorite rides.
It's kind of like shock treatments...only legal, and much safer, cheaper, and more effective.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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7 comments:
You're my hero.
No bleeding heart here. I think that was an excellent way to handle the situation. I tip my hat to you two. (There it was, I tipped it.)
Wow! Great job. I would have been the one struggling with the brave face, pleading to please please repent and turn from your wicked ways! But you are right, that's a lesson she (and I venture Sparkle too!) will never ever forget. Wow.
That is exactly like something we would do. We were at the park on Sunday. Sorry we missed you.
You rock! I'm proud of you. You stood your ground but also made a plan to bring her suit along too! What an awesome thing you did!
Wow! That's a tough one for me... I don't know if I could have followed through with something like that! Glad to hear that she got to swim... I know my son probably would have just cried and said he didn't want to swim, boohoohoo.
good for you!as an "empty nester mom" ie:"older", "old fashioned",etc. it is so encouraging to hear of moms who are actually teaching their children that attitudes and behaviours have consequences and rewards. you're children will be much better prepared for the "real world" when they leave your nest.
p.s.
I cannot even remember how many times my 3 children called me "mean"...many, many times...but you know what? now they thank me for teaching them those valuable lessons!
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