Thursday, September 20, 2007

Tell Me More

I've been trying to decrease the television watching in our house. A new rule was implemented. Paperwork or housecleaning in exchanage for tv time. After my cleanup day, there was no more cleaning to give Zorro though he desperately wanted to (he hates paperwork--paperwork is what we call writing or workbook activities). But I remain firm...no paperwork, no tv. And so this morning I hear his little voice tell me of what happened while I was at the doctor's last night:

"Mom...the last day--daddy let me watch tv and I didn't do paperwork or write my name or clean up."

"Oh, really? I guess I'll have to put daddy in time out. Why did he do that?"

**silence**

Probably running through his head...loosely translated, of course... "Oh shit?!"

But, I'm a good mommy, so I ask if he'd been a good listening boy. He says he had, so I say "that's why daddy let you watch television. Because you were a good listening boy, you earned television watching."

Parents have to back up one another and make sure the rules are being followed and throughly explained to the children so we are all on the same page.

Grrrrrr...Just wait till your daddy gets home....

1 comment:

Jellybeans Mom said...

See...I HAVE put Daddy in time out right next to Jellybean. She gets a big kick out of that. Daddy protested but I told him "It's not fair for you to be allowed to something she isn't and you know that so you BOTH get a time out." And he went.

You are so right and for the most part we are both on the same page as far as discipline goes. I always tell him what has happened during the day and what rules or punishments need to be followed while he's home. Jellybean hates it when I tell Daddy these kinds of things cuz then she can't manipulate him.