Crime and Punishment

Sunday afternoon was perfect nap weather: cool, rainy, dreary, gray. Since I got up with H at 6:20, I got to take a wonderful, long nap. I think I woke up around 4pm and then S came in our room at 4:30 just to make sure I was awake. I was but barely.

He came in to inform me of a situation involving the girls. It seems as though K got the idea that she would do some "cleaning" in her room. She has done this before with bathroom cleaner (complete with bleach), attempting to "clean" her bear. The bear got thrown in the trash and the child was put in time out while Mama took a time out herself. The bleach incident happened when she was three so we didn't do much else to punish her.

Fast forward to Sunday and she's a whole three years older and wiser. Or so I thought. She used detangling spray as a cleaning solution to clean her and L's beds (just the wood part, not the quilts she assured me) and L used it to wash the walls, with toilet paper as a cleaning rag. This is something that they know better than to do. S was annoyed and made them clean up the mess while he came to me to discuss punishment.

When they finished cleaning, K and L asked what their punishment was going to be. S and I got the bright idea to let the girls pick their own punishment. They came up with no snacks, no sweets and no TV for two days. That started at 5pm Sunday and will end today at 5pm. Believe me, they are counting down the minutes.

The thing I've already noticed, though, is that they are finding ways to entertain themselves without bugging me. They have played well together and have gotten along without much fighting. They haven't once asked to watch TV and keep reminding me that they can have dessert tonight. I really thought this punishment was going to drive me bonkers but they've been quite good. And their imaginations have been running wild.

There have been plenty of tempting situations for them and I know there will be at least one more today. But I must say that I am so proud of them!