Going commando

No, you Friends fans, I'm not talking about what I wear under my pants. I'm talking about commando parenting. You know what I'm talking about. Kids aren't listening to a word you are saying. You are fed up. Don't want to resort to spanking. So you have to find another way to make them so miserable they wish they had listened to you. I think Erin will remember what I'm talking about since she was in the cross-fire of another commando parenting episode a couple of years ago. We were taking Erin and her kids to their car, but had to stop and get Jamo from Pre-K before going. Roo was throwing a fit, took off his seatbelt and refused to put it back on. I told him if he wanted to be in the car, he'd better put on his seatbelt or he was getting out of the car. He again refused, so Brad pulled over, I got out with Roo, and we sat in the parking lot as Brad drove off to get Jamo. It worked for a couple of reasons. It was warm enough that it wasn't child abuse to sit in the parking lot for 10 minutes. He has never had a similar episode since either. The problems being 1) a lot of the very kind people in OK stopped to ask why I was sitting by the road with a wailing 3 yr old and 2) it was across the street from the fire station, so we had fire trucks stopping to ask if we were okay. Sigh. At least it worked.

Tonight, the commando parenting involved 1) separating the boys 2) turning off the side lamp 3) turning off the hall light and standing in the hall the whole time to make sure they were obeying. Roo was so upset he weeped, wailed and moaned for 20 minutes. Which is frankly a good thing. It means I found something that has bothered him enough to get some results. Hopefully tomorrow they will actually listen when I tell them it is bed time rather than having to take it to the weeping and wailing stage. I can't wait until Brad is back and I have reinforcements.