Friday, January 16, 2009

Who gets the punishment?

WARNING--this is a ramblings post of mother-thoughts at the end of a week!

A word to the wise: When dishing out a punishment to a child for breaking a rule, be quite certain you are not punishing yourself far worse than them. For example- When Clark gets all of his school work done he earns 45 minutes of computer time or Wii time. This arrangement has been working out well for many months now. Last night I went visiting teaching and in my absence Clark figured ,"the cat's away-the mice will play" and he took the opportunity to play more computer time. The 45 minute rule is pretty strict and he knows it, but I guess Abe doesn't really know it. In all fairness to Abe, he isn't here that often, so I shouldn't blame him (although I did anyway).
When I arrived home I wasn't too pleased and told Clark, "you'll still need to get your school stuff done tomorrow, but you won't be able to play computer or Wii".
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID decision on my part!!!
As a result he skulked around the house all day with ZERO motivation to do anything, except to tease his sisters!

Subject change-- FAITH IS POTTY TRAINED! Yea! I think some very musically talented person should put out a CD of top potty song hits! I'm sure I'm not the only mom who makes up little "potty ditties" to encourage and celebrate the proper use of the potty.

QUESTION-- Do any of you other mothers out there let the two year old go around all day with all clothes, including shoes put on backwards? I was so pleased that Faith took the initiative to get herself dressed this morning that I didn't have the heart to tell her everything was on backwards. Is that mean like when you put a shirt on inside out and nobody tells you about it so you go around all day looking like an idiot?

It might be a little early to tell, but I suspect Cannon is on the verge of becoming a better sleeper. He is finally taking longer, more organized naps and that is the first step to sleeping better at night (or so all the "experts" tell me). Oh, I hope so.

I have had a couple of new, exciting developments in my life lately. I was recently called as the Primary President in my ward. I really enjoy working in Primary and I have great ladies to work with so I'm looking forward to it. I have also started teaching piano lessons. I have six students and it's been really fun.

Book recommendation-- I just finished reading A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter and I really enjoyed it. So if you are looking for a good, uplifting read I recommend it.


All right, that is all for my ramblings tonight. It is the weekend and Abe is home and I'm going to try to be nicer than I've been the last couple of days.

4 comments:

Inspiration Station said...

I hope you have a better weekend Betsy after a long week! Yeah, that Faith is potty trained. We finally got W. to as well until she got sick this week. I need a new book to read so I'm going to check yours out. I loved Laddie by the same author!
Thanks!

Katie Fox said...

I can't count how many times I have done that same thing with punishments, I end up turning into a monster and that doesn't help anybody. Good luck with next week and enjoy having your hubby home.

Mothership said...

I totally know what you mean (the punishment thing). It makes me be especially creative in my mothering because I don't want to have to stay home from the movie because the KID did something wrong.

And your little Faith makes me smile!

Jenn said...

Yes...I am with you on the whole punish the kid & punish the mom more thing! YAY for Faith being potty-trained! Most kids aren't potty-trained they are 3!!! YAY! I will have to write down that book title & when I actually have time to read again...I will certainly pick it up. ;) One more thing....(caps for intensity purposes) I CAN'T BELIEVE THE BISHOP CALLED ON YOU FOR THE MEETING PRAYER! Ryan & everyone thought that was down-right mean...considering it was your first meeting & all....SO CRUEL! If it is any solace to you...Ryan told me after church that he was pretty sure the Bishop felt bad that he called on you. And then on top of it all, they ask you to speak in church next Sunday...WOW....I hope you don't feel picked on. I know you will all do great! I just hope Jake is quiet enough so I can hear the talks. ;) OK...enough rambling from me...Have a fun week! :)