Thursday, January 1, 2009

Soap in the Mouth

The kids were in the tub when I heard them converse using a word that had previously been explained to them as "bad..." STUPID. They were finding ways to stick it into every sentence, even if it didn't make sense. I didn't want to let it go without correction for fear they would take the word lightly and repeat the behavior. To set the stage a little more, we had watched A Christmas Story a few times recently because of the holidays. They knew Ralphie had suffered soap in the mouth for saying a bad word, so I thought following suit might make the lesson more clear. So into the bathroom I walked with a somber look on my face that said, "This is too bad... I wish I didn't have to do this." I took the bar of soap from the shower and knelt down. I told Drew he said a bad word and that I had to put soap in his mouth. He grinned from ear to ear and willingly opened his mouth, thinking we were role-playing from the movie. I fought a smile and tried not to laugh. He wasn't scared or upset at all, and the impact of the demonstration was quickly in danger of deflating into a joke, but I was determined to remain vigil. Into his mouth the soap went, and instantly his brow furrowed as he spit out the soap. I know he didn't fully comprehend this was an official "punishment" because after a few good spews he said, "Mom, that's really not a good taste," like I showed bad form by feeding him something repulsive because of my own lack of knowledge. Matt just screamed and twisted away as if I was about to amputate one of his limbs with a chainsaw. We'll see if I struck enough fear to eliminate the undesired vocabulary.

3 comments:

Sarah C said...

That's funny. You will have to keep us posted. I would like to know if it helped. I am always looking for new ideas to help things "sink in". Happy New Year!

Jesse and Ashley Packer said...

That is too funny! Job well done... now, when they ask you for a bee bee gun next year tell them that they will shoot their eye out. There are a lot of life lessons to be learned from "The Christmas Story." ;0) Happy New Year. Let me know if the soap works. These dang boys. I know how you feel.

Unknown said...

Brenda,

Congrats on the little one! I am way behind in getting back to you! The kids are sure growing fast. I have done the soap thing too. Now I use time away from playing outside...they HATE that! Hope you guys are well.

Ginnie

Monster Mash

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