The Hardest Part...

I've decided that the hardest part about disciplining your child is having to miss out on things yourself :[  Let me explain...

There was one time at my In-Law's house where I looked at Joey and said "if you drop that one more time, we are going home."  She dropped whatever it was, and we packed up and left that instant.....it was a crazy night, and after I said what I had said, we had to leave once Joey dropped whatever it was....it was a little harsh, and I was a bit embarrassed for what had so easily rolled off my tongue, but follow through is really important to us, so we left.

The other night our sweet 3 year old that you all know as an angel was giving us a run for our money.  She wanted to go swimming so badly {and we did too, it's hot here :]}, but when asked to get her swimsuit on, she was stalling and wasting time.  She kept putting it off and eventually said "I just don't want to go swimming".  I knew after she said this that she would immediately change her mind and say she wanted to go swimming, which she did say.

{Joey is in the great habit of saying she doesn't want to do something, then immediately changing her mind....Johnny and I are done with this!!! } 

So back to the story....so she said she didn't want to go swimming....I immediately put her swimsuit away, and the trip to the pool was off.  The crying commenced and it was a fight to brush teeth, go potty, and get jammies on.  Because of the fit and it's severity, Joey lost both of her stories that night....we read from her Bible, prayed and went to sleep.  She eventually calmed down and apologized for what she had done.  She went to sleep and woke up refreshed and polite the next morning.

The sad part of this story is not that we taught Joey a lesson in speaking what you mean, but the fact that we didn't get to go to the pool :[  It was really annoying, but we had to stick to our guns.  My BIGGEST pet peeve is when parents threaten something and don't follow through.  Like I said, Johnny and I are sick of this "I want to do this, no I don't, yes I do" game, so this is how we are putting a stop to it.  State the consequence then follow through every time!!

So a day passed and we had time before bed.  We asked Joey if she wanted to go swimming.  Since we didn't get to go the day before, she jumped at the chance to go!  We got upstairs to change and she decided that she didn't want to get her swimsuit on.  Grrrrrr, not again!!!  Johnny had a great plan....he told her that she needed to get her swimsuit on, and we were going to the pool, the catch was that she had to sit out while the rest of the family got to swim.  She got her suit on and no fits were had....we got to the pool and Johnny, Sammy and I got in while Joey sat on the sidelines and watched us have fun without her.  She never asked how much longer to I have to sit here or anything like that.  After 5 very long minutes Joey was allowed to swim.  The rest of the evening went great.

So we may have found a way around the family punishment for Joey's actions....we still get to do whatever it was, she has to sit out and watch?!?  I'm not sure, we are still learning as we go here, but one thing is for sure, we will be consistent, we will follow through, and we will discipline or child for bad behavior.  Even though tough at times, and even though we may get "punished" in the process, it will be worth it in the long run!  Here goes.....