Brotherly Love...

Sunday was a bad kid day. I don't just mean bad, I mean BAAAADDD. One of those days when you are just waiting for CPS to come pick up your sociopathic kids because you're obviously a huge failure as a parent. There was kicking, biting, willful disobedience, flagrant violations of every rule in existence, , blah, blah, blah....you get the picture.

Having reached my end point I first declared that only children who picked up would be served dinner. The result?? Jason and I had a lovely dinner alone. The kids hid behind the couch, watching to see if I was serious--I was. For good measure, I served Jason and I decadent sundaes.

When this failed to effect obedience, I then calmly and silently took a trash bag from room to room and gathered all kid belongings that had not been put away. One large trash bag later, Jason saved me some effort by putting a child lock on the toy room door. Finally, the kids cracked. Much crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth later, including my first ever "you're the meanest mom ever!!" I fed them (I didn't want them in my room hungry at 2 am) and set the rules. They would have to earn back the toys--one at a time. The lock would come off the toy room door when all the toys in the bags had been earned.

Monday -- a banner day. Carsten was all smiles. Chores were done, kind words used, happy reports received from school...He earned the right to "rescue" a toy. (Abrielle---close but not quite---she gets the concept now and we'll try tomorrow.)

The rescue took longer than a government project. Oh, the options. Nerf guns, puzzles, fireman costumes. helicopters, tool sets, building sets, favorite books, ...tons of Carsten's toys were thoughtfully considered for rescue operation #1. Ten minutes later, he smiles and carefully pulls this out of the bag.....



...and hands it to his sister.

It's Abrielle's Tinkerbell Birthday cake topper. Her prized possession. It has gone everywhere with her for weeks.

Perhaps I'm not raising sociopaths after all..........