Sunday night I called a "family meeting". Just to gain a perspective, we have had 2 family meetings in 2010 that I can recall. Not a big practice around here. But Sunday night it had to be done. The topic: physical violence against family members. I am not joking. That was the topic.
Latley at our house the kids have taken to hitting, pushing, flicking, pinching and even what I would call "slugging". It is not pretty. And it's not just one ... it's all 3. I can assure you they did not learn this from their Mother!
We don't have a lot of rules around here. I figure that God only gave us 10 commandments ... so who am I to have a monster long list of "do nots". We try to major on the majors. My biggies are "no lying", "be respectful" & "be kind to others". If these rules are broken the consequences are usually pretty severe. I think it's fair to say that "acts of physical violence" against your brothers and sister would count as a "broken rule".
So, we gathered the kids and explained the problem. They agreed that there has been too much pushing, hitting, ect between them. They agreed with the discipline that was going to happen if it continues. They had a few questions though ...
"What if someone screams in my ear? Can I hit him then??" NO!
"What if someone pinches me? Can I kick her back?" NO!
"What if I see a slug bug and am playing the slug bug game and I slug someone?" uhhhh ... Paul? You wanna take this one?
"What if I do a "physical violence" but it was an accident?" Will I get disciplined then?" YES!
"What if he calls me annoying? That's not very nice. Can I scream in his ear?" NO!
Thankfully we haven't had to enforce the discipline yet. I'm hopeful yet also realize it IS only Tuesday.
6 comments:
Sorry Jessica-- but I laughed out loud reading this. :o)
We're sorry also Jess...but Mark and I are both laughing out loud!!!
For some strange reason our 3 boys didn't fight, but boy does Mark have stories with his two brothers. Stones thrown at heads, wrestling battles, and even slamming a folding chair over his little brother. Mark wanted me to assure you that they are survived and still love each other!
what if someone screams TWICE in my ear, then may I hit them??
Love, Aunt Julie
Thanks for the laugh. I can just hear those questions being asked. They will make it, they are just being children growing up and learning to get along. Their only problem is having such smart parents that are more stubborn than they are. You should be very proud of the hard work in raising them. Its not like they come with instructions.
Sorry pushed the wrong button that was me Aunt Sally Didn't mean to be anonymous. Nothing in my life is a secret.
I felt like you were describing my house :) I had to stop the van because of the violence going on in the back. Maybe a family meeting is inorder here. Thanks :)
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