The boys made their NCAA tourney picks today. I figure that they know about as much as I do about this stuff, so I let them help pick my brackets. The boys wisely chose Kansas over Lehigh (with some encouragement from me), but when I asked them “Murray State or Vanderbilt?” the response was “TOOLBELT!! I get my tool belt!!” They spent the next 15 minutes hammering the playroom wall. Apparently if something is broken around here, it needs hammering. Not that the wall was broken, mind you, at least not prior to the hammering.
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Do you remember that story a year or two ago about that mom who was fed up with her preteen daughters bickering in the backseat and she made them get out of the car and walk a couple of miles home… and then later she got arrested???
I thought about that lady this morning. (Poor woman… guess she should have done a loop and picked the brats up… but still – arrested?!) I thought of her because today at Costco, I considered leaving Charlie in the snack food aisle. The second I put him in the cart he started a monster tantrum. Something about needing a nonexistent steering wheel and wanting to sit where Cooper and/or Zach were sitting. The screaming was irritating, but I’m numb to that. But after about 5 minutes in the store, the screaming turned to screeching and Charlie stood up in his seat, seat-belt be damned, and tried to jump out of the cart on top of me. Oh boy.
I suddenly turned into my mother. (No offense, mom). Between clenched teeth came: “CHARLIE TIME OUT RIGHT NOW,” and I plopped his skinny booty right down on the Costco floor, right next to monster tubs of Metamucil.
I pushed the cart a few feet away, and Charlie sat there bewildered and silent (!), just watching me. He couldn’t believe it. Neither could his brothers. And neither could Florence, the lady dishing out the free samples of protein bar at the end of the aisle.
Nothing to see here folks. I just ignored the passers-by and the gawking from Florence (though I did take her up on her free sample).
And when I put Charlie back in the cart a minute later, he was done acting the fool. A perfect gentleman the rest of the shopping trip.
So it worked. Truth be told, I was pretty proud of the victory… Score one for team Mommy.
3 comments:
I am a fan of the instant time out whever we are. My only problem is that now Avery somehow finds entertainment in whatever is on the shelves around her. I just can't bring myself to abandon the cart and leave. I am not that strong.
Oh, wow, can I relate. Isn't it fun to try to discipline in public? Good for you, though--I'll bet Charlie will remember that one next time he's in a shopping cart!
Good for you! I did that to Sophia the other day in Walmart. She was having a tantrum and when I took her out of the cart and walked away from her to the end of the aisle she was in complete shock! No more tantrum! We will see if it will work next time!
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