Naughty behavior is not tolerated at our house and for some reason every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my children choose to challenge my tolerance for said behavior to the extreme. This past weekend I decided that I would nip it in the butt because this mom could not take it anymore! I told both kids separately that if bad behavior continued I would go into the garage take one of their Christmas gifts out of hiding and then force them open it and then return it to the store. While it seemed like an empty threat and "I am going to call Santa" threat is no longer effective this seemed to have a great impact with both children. For a few minutes of peace and quiet I made them go sit and think about what I had told them and then come back and explain to me what I had told them and what they would do to keep from losing the elusive gifts, this was the key to my success.
Jack chose to test me within 10 minutes of the edict. When I entered the kitchen with the medium sized square box wrapped in red paper silent tears began to stream down his cheeks, and then a whimper of "I'm so sorry I lied to you Mom". I didn't have the heart to enforce my rule, how could you punish those blue eyes? I felt too guilty... I think I got the desired affect, I have lived with 2 little angels since Saturday.
I even shared my "mean mom at Christmas" punishment with my friend, whose children quickly snapped into order after the laying down of the law... guess what... it works... I am just saying... if you want to try it, I am warning you it will be hard on both of you, but you will obtain the desired behavior immediately! Good luck! And Merry Christmas!
