Thursday, January 18, 2007

Smacks Aren't Just a Breakfast Cereal!

Okay so, Travis and I have decided we're not spanking Brianna. (Blame it on my liberal college education. Since I have an Elementary Ed. degree they made me take a bunch of Child Psych. classes and so on. And, according to all them, spanking isn't that effective and has some negative aspects as well. Of course, Trav and I were both spanked and we turned out okay so who knows?) That's not to say if you spank you're doing the wrong thing though. My philosophy is that each kid is different and parents need to do what works for them and their child. Anyways, over here we've decided that a system of time outs, removing toys or other fun stuff as a punishment, and also rewarding positive behavior is a better system for us. But...

The other day Bree and I were getting ready to head off on another one of our little adventures and we were running a little late. I was trying to get her dressed but she was resisting me full force. (Which is her new hobby when getting dressed.) She thinks it's hysterical to roll all over, try to run away, turn into a limp noodle, just making it virtually impossible to get her shoved into her clothes. And to add insult to injury she's usually laughing like a maniac the whole time too. Well, on this particular day, like I said, we were running late, I was in a hurry, and I got super frustrated. Nothing I said seemed to be making a darn difference. So, in total exasperation I swatted her buns. I don't even think you could call it a full force spank but never-the-less it shocked Bree. She looked at me with huge eyes so I told her, "Well, you weren't listening to Mommy so you got a little spankin'." I felt bad but it worked after all and I figured that was the end of that.

I should have known better though... At dinner it's my little habit to encourage Bree to tell her daddy about our day. Usually with a little prompting she'll tell him about the library or her friends, etc. But, it took no prompting this time! Brianna decided to tell on me. We hadn't taken two bites of dinner when Bree turned to Travis and said, "Dad, did you know Mommy smacked me?" Guess I better knock it off before she starts telling EVERYONE that and I end up with Child Services at my door. Geesh! :)

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