Bad Mother Awards, and When Punishments aren't Punishments...
So, I totally won a Baby Mommy Award on Monday. Niv ran out of socks. This is my fault, because I should have done the kids' laundry on Friday or over the weekend, but I thought they had enough clothes to hold out until Monday. Apparently, Niv was short a pair of socks. I was kind of at a loss. There wasn't time to run a load of laundry (wash and dry) before we had to leave for school, and he doesn't have shoes he could realistically wear all day without socks. He doesn't have sandals - and school prefers closed-toed shoes anyway - and his Crocs are a little too small, so I was afraid that wearing them all day without socks would make his feet hurt. Finally, I pawed through the hamper and came up with a pair of socks that he'd only worn for half the day on Saturday, because he'd decided to go outside without shoes and the socks were wet. They had dried after two days in the hamper, so I thought it would be okay.
Well, he sits down to put them on and complains they "don't smell good." I was like, "Grr... what am I supposed to do?!" So I took them and washed them quickly in the sink, but now how long would they take to dry? I threw them in the dryer for 15 minutes, sure that one paltry pair of socks would dry quickly. They were still completely wet. We had time for one more 15-minute cycle, so I ran it again. And they still were wet. I was starting to wonder if the dryer was actually, like, hot.
Niv was downstairs eating breakfast and whatnot while I was doing this, so he didn't know the socks still weren't dry. So - and this is where you're going to laugh, because I totally did, too - I went back into the hamper and pulled out a pair of identical socks (he has two sets of the same exact socks), which actually seemed clean-ish and took them downstairs to him. "How did you get them dry?!" he exclaimed. "In the dryer," I answered. And left it at that. And he wore the dirty socks all day. And I did a load of laundry. And he'll never know.
----
I've been having the kids take a bath together for quite a while now, and now that Niv is old enough to report to me what's going on in the tub, I don't have a problem with being out of sight while they bathe, although I always stay within earshot and a quick dash in case I hear a loud thunk, splash, or scream. I use the time to get some work done, Facebook, whatever. And they seem to like it.
Except that Shai has become physically aggressive toward Niv, and Niv can really annoy Shai. So Niv annoys Shai, Shai pinches or scratches Niv in response, Niv cries or whines and yells, "Mommy, Shai pinched me for NO REASON!" and I respond, "I'm sure it wasn't for NO reason," because this has become one of those nightly events to which you've become completely inured and couldn't give a shit what the kids do to each other in the bath.
Except, I actually do give a shit, and Shai shouldn't hurt Niv, and "allowing" Niv to retaliate hasn't helped, so last night I'd had it up to HERE with the whole nonsense. After I heard Niv start his whine/cry and shout, "Mommy, Shai SCRATCHED me for NO REASON!" I said, "Okay, time to get out!" deciding to enforce my "If anyone starts crying, everyone gets out" rule that I'd been letting slide. And then I got an even better idea. If they like taking baths together, then not allowing them to will make them beg for it, and then I can force them to be nice to each other in the bath! So I declared that for the next three nights (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), I was going to run the bath, put one kid in, wash him, take that kid out, put the other kid in, wash him, and that would be it. No playing, no being together in the bath.
Tonight was the first night of this. I ran the bath, stuck Shai in, soaped him down, rinsed him off, and took him out. Then I told Niv to get in and wash himself, then let out the water and get out to brush his teeth. Meanwhile, I helped Shai brush his teeth and get in his PJs.
I loved it. It was so easy and quick.
Um...
The problem?
They loved it, too!
Er...
So...
What do you do when they actually enjoy the punishment? Lol.
Whatever. Like I said, I liked it, so I guess if everyone's happy, then that's good, right?
I kind of hope that the novelty wears off and they start begging to take baths together again so they can play. They both so love playing in water.
We'll see.
Well, he sits down to put them on and complains they "don't smell good." I was like, "Grr... what am I supposed to do?!" So I took them and washed them quickly in the sink, but now how long would they take to dry? I threw them in the dryer for 15 minutes, sure that one paltry pair of socks would dry quickly. They were still completely wet. We had time for one more 15-minute cycle, so I ran it again. And they still were wet. I was starting to wonder if the dryer was actually, like, hot.
Niv was downstairs eating breakfast and whatnot while I was doing this, so he didn't know the socks still weren't dry. So - and this is where you're going to laugh, because I totally did, too - I went back into the hamper and pulled out a pair of identical socks (he has two sets of the same exact socks), which actually seemed clean-ish and took them downstairs to him. "How did you get them dry?!" he exclaimed. "In the dryer," I answered. And left it at that. And he wore the dirty socks all day. And I did a load of laundry. And he'll never know.
----
I've been having the kids take a bath together for quite a while now, and now that Niv is old enough to report to me what's going on in the tub, I don't have a problem with being out of sight while they bathe, although I always stay within earshot and a quick dash in case I hear a loud thunk, splash, or scream. I use the time to get some work done, Facebook, whatever. And they seem to like it.
Except that Shai has become physically aggressive toward Niv, and Niv can really annoy Shai. So Niv annoys Shai, Shai pinches or scratches Niv in response, Niv cries or whines and yells, "Mommy, Shai pinched me for NO REASON!" and I respond, "I'm sure it wasn't for NO reason," because this has become one of those nightly events to which you've become completely inured and couldn't give a shit what the kids do to each other in the bath.
Except, I actually do give a shit, and Shai shouldn't hurt Niv, and "allowing" Niv to retaliate hasn't helped, so last night I'd had it up to HERE with the whole nonsense. After I heard Niv start his whine/cry and shout, "Mommy, Shai SCRATCHED me for NO REASON!" I said, "Okay, time to get out!" deciding to enforce my "If anyone starts crying, everyone gets out" rule that I'd been letting slide. And then I got an even better idea. If they like taking baths together, then not allowing them to will make them beg for it, and then I can force them to be nice to each other in the bath! So I declared that for the next three nights (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday), I was going to run the bath, put one kid in, wash him, take that kid out, put the other kid in, wash him, and that would be it. No playing, no being together in the bath.
Tonight was the first night of this. I ran the bath, stuck Shai in, soaped him down, rinsed him off, and took him out. Then I told Niv to get in and wash himself, then let out the water and get out to brush his teeth. Meanwhile, I helped Shai brush his teeth and get in his PJs.
I loved it. It was so easy and quick.
Um...
The problem?
They loved it, too!
Er...
So...
What do you do when they actually enjoy the punishment? Lol.
Whatever. Like I said, I liked it, so I guess if everyone's happy, then that's good, right?
I kind of hope that the novelty wears off and they start begging to take baths together again so they can play. They both so love playing in water.
We'll see.