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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Let the Whining Begin!



April 21, 2013

On the way home from my coffee date and the children’s visit with Grandma the joys began. Hopped up on sugar or just plain rotten is anyone’s guess, but Little Big Boy Man started in on his sisters. On a good day this is no big deal, but this was not a good day apparently because Sweetie Pie #1 starts uttering this sound that is something of a cross between a shrill and a moan. Now whining has to rank near the top of the list (if not the top) of things that irritate me so I was quick to want to put a stop to it. I pulled the van over, got out and opened the passenger doors. Speaking as calmly and firmly as I could I let it be known that if the picking and teasing and whining continued everyone was getting an appointment with the “Board of Education”. I closed the doors, climbed back into my seat, and drove away.

The silence lasted 1 minute, tops. This time I just stopped. Right there in the middle of the road. As fast as I could get the car stopped. I certainly got their attention. And now that I had it I wanted to make sure they understood what was expected from them for the rest of our journey home. After receiving “Yes Ma’am” from them all I drove away. Thankfully there was no traffic behind me.

The peace lasted for 15 minutes. Another 5 minutes and we would have been home. I decided I was not telling them again. I just drove the rest of the way home. Unbuckled my Sweetie Pies and headed inside. Once coats and shoes were off I sat down on the couch and called all three children before me. As we replayed the drive home I knew they knew spankings were coming next. To their credit they took their discipline without complaint or begging (not much anyway).

Peace reigned the rest of the day. I’m finding that if I stay calm while disciplining, the desired results come about more quickly.

2 comments:

  1. I find that the less sugar my kids have, when they have it they go nuts. Go figure. Good job mama!

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    1. I'm learning a lot about sugar lately. Horrible stuff. Trying to find substitutions for all our sweet tooth needs. Grandma's house is going to be a problem though. She eats the worst of the bad pre-packaged, convenience foods so my kids think they're in hog heaven when they visit. :-)

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