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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
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Ever have those moments when you actually get something right? When you feel you made a decision, or came up with an answer to a nagging parenting question that stumps other people?
Well, it doesn’t happen very often here at our home, but when it does, we allow some back patting. (I just got done patting my husband’s, I’ll do my own later!!!)
For the time being, we’re feeling pretty good about our new, creative way of disciplining the oldest. It’s different, it’s educational, and … it seems to be working.
Oldest struggles with organization, always has. The backpack isn’t pretty. His desk even worse. So you can imagine that we get some forgotten homework, I’d say about once every two weeks. We used to just take away TV and video games that night. Once other homework was done, the rest of the night he could only read or hang out with his little brother or outside.
It didn’t seem to be that bad, really, stripping the media or having him hang out with his little brother. No lessons learned, really.
So one day, about two weeks ago, I’d had enough. I needed something new, something that would make him stop and think. Literally.
I had him do Internet research and write a paper. Just for us.
His first assignment? Find out about Barack Obama and write us a one-page report. The sooner he got done, the sooner he could watch his TV shows, we told him. And, oh yeah, he needed to be creative, write things we didn’t know and make sure he wrote it well.
What fun it was. He learned a little more about the Internet, a lot more about our new president and even -- dare say -- was a little entertained by this little educational endeavor.
Of course husband threw out a couple of crazy questions, like what brand of cigarette the President-elect smoked before he publically quit. (Answer: From what he could tell he likes to bum cigarettes from friends, but may have smoked Newports or even Marlboros … )
And I wanted him to learn his daughter’s names and some of their interests. (Did you know Malia is darn good with a hula-hoop?)
Once the paper was done, he felt pretty proud. I marveled at only one misspelled word. And my husband loved that he was actually DOING something instead of sitting there and not doing anything.
Can’t say that he loved it. When I told him how I would blog about our new, profound way of dishing out discipline he started to plead with me.
“Mom, please don’t,” he urged. “Don’t have other parents put their kids through the torture you put me through.”
Torture. Making him learn about the world around him and the guy picked to run it. Must be torture.
He did forget another assignment this past week. And we took on Santa Claus and how he came about. My husband has a long list of assignments for him. We’ve been brainstorming of new occasions to use them.
Anybody else have a great way to discipline? Any creative ideas?
I fear we’ll have more missed assignments before May comes around.
Now for a little back patting!!!
My husbands parent's made him write reports as punishment. His father would pick out a book and give him a week to read it and write a report on it. Of course back then there was no internet. BTW, my husband LOVES to read these days and credits his dad for fostering that love!Great idea, Laura! For real torture, I'll loan your son my old typewriter I used for writing h.s. papers.Laura, that is an awesome idea. I think I will try it with DD 11...she is a walking disaster! She loves that show treasure hunters, I may have her look up different kinds of stones and their origins. Thanks for the idea!Laura, Regarding your youngest talking, if it is any consolation, we also had a child whose vocabulary was "Eh, eh" + a point until age two when she opened her mouth and announced "I no like that Gramma" who had just come hundreds of miles to see her. I am not making this up! She went on to be an honor student with top test scores so take heart.We've done this before! We've also made the kids write "love letters" to one another when they're all up in fightin' mode (oh yeah, they love this punishment. NOT!!!). My dad used to make my step-sibs copy words and definitions from the dictionary when they were in trouble. It's a great punishment, if you ask me! Good blog, Laura!!!Can't wait for this one! I don't know how effective research would be with my 2nd grader, but she can surely write a paper about her thoughts and actions. Hmmm... Excellent idea.Messy room, cluttered backpack, see creative discipline: I've hidden a $10 bill in your room, as you clean up your room you will find clues to where it is. YOU WILL NEED THE CLUES. or Since nothing is to be posted, heavens forgid, a snapshot of his room would be of great interest to many. or Take out all major pieces of furniture first, followed by minor pieces of furniture. He'll be left to sit on the floor with messy choices or he can clean up and get one piece of furniture back at a time. or You can "move in" with him. Yes, even sleep with him. Until the room is clean/tidy. You'll do the cleaning, but that means you will toss anything (that's the key word) ANYTHING you don't want to keep. Otherwise, it's his room, his things. or He can pay rent to keep a messy room until the health inspectors visit. A quick call to someone "official looking" is inventive. Especially when they take a clipboard into the room and make notes. A letter a couple of days later saying the room is inhabitable with a big 'TOXIC looking sticker hanging on the door with DO NOT CROSS tape crisscrossed over the door may get the message across. or You can try my personal favorite. As he's talking with one of his friends, ask him in a loud voice if he still needs ointment for his rash?! Then quietly whisper you will use this technique until the room is clean. You'll even ask his teacher and/or coach about his rash if the room isn't clean/tidy by deadline. Writing a paper is good. There's just so many other inventive ideas.
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