I am forever having to come up with creative “punishments” for my son (refer to the Pink Backpack post). Thank goodness he doesn’t really get himself into ‘big trouble’ very often, but when he does, the usual taking away of privileges, being grounded and so on, doesn’t really work. I still use those things in addition to a punishment, though.
Because of what happened yesterday, I invented (on the fly, thankyouverymuch!) a new twist on a timeless punishment, some version of which I probably had to do, myself, as a kid: I’m making him write “I will not spit on other people” over and over in a notebook. I’ve used this “write such-and-such, X number of times” as a punishment in the past, but since he was maybe 5, it’s been more of a ‘challenge’ to see how fast he could do it, instead of a “punishment”. So, today when I announced what he’d be doing after school, he gave me that look that said “I could honestly care less”… that was, until, I told him he had to write it until the notebook filled up. THEN he got upset. THEN I got the look of horror and realization in his eyes, and the ‘OHMYGODSHESACTUALLYSERIOUS’ reaction, (THEN I got the tantrum, which I ignored.)
I don’t know if I will actually make him fill up the whole notebook, but I have every intention of making him write it so many times (and for at least the next three days after school) that he is bored out of his mind.
Boredom is really the only “punishment” that works semi-effectively with him. Nonetheless, it still makes me feel like an awful parent person when I have to enforce it.
*SIGH* I really don’t like this part of parenting.
NaBloPoMo Post 27 - November 27, 2007
