Tough Love

We've been having to practice some "tough love" at home lately. Meal time at our house was a horrible experience and it was time to take control. It didn't matter what I cooked, the kids whined and complained. When we sat down to eat, they suddenly thought we had entered into a game show, Let's Make a Deal, instead of just eating their dinner. And then when the gagging and complaining would end, they would instantly think they had earned the right to eat dessert. Well...NO MORE!!!!! This Mama is taking control back and the kids have learned that I mean business!!!!!

It only took about two nights of going to bed hungry, and I now have polite and thankful children. At least that is the case so far. Actually, Emily never went to bed hungry. She was able to get down her dinner without complaint, but Ethan went to bed without a bite eat one night and he was in total misery. To say he had a bad evening is putting it lightly, but he learned a lesson. Here is the rule at dinner. The kids will be respectful and not complain. They will sit at the dinner table with the family and eat their dinner. I will not nag them about eating because I refuse to fight with them about it. If by the end of dinner they have chosen not to eat, then they will not get anything to eat the rest of the night. If they have eaten well, then they may be able to have some kind of snack later like a yogurt, strawberries, etc or a dessert if we happen to have one. The last several days have been very peaceful and nice after that night that Ethan went to bed so hungry.

I also had to send an email to the teacher because I was worried about whether or not Ethan was having some problems at school like he was having at home. Ethan gets so frustrated when it is time to do his homework. He refuses to do it. He easily gets frustrated. He has even thrown his pencil across the room. He doesn't want to read any books and says he can't do it. I've been really concerned about him. What worried me was that I wondered if he was acting out like this at school, too. I was worried that he was comparing himself to Emily too much and that his self esteem was suffering by it. Ethan's teacher emailed me back saying that she was quite shocked to hear that he was behaving like this. He does not do this at school at all. She had a talk with him at school and gave him some ways that he could help calm himself down when he starts to feel frustrated. She told him to close his eyes and take a deep breath and to think to himself that he was too smart to act that way. So that night when we were reading his book he started to get all upset and I stopped him and reminded him of what his teacher said. He closed his eyes and did it and then opened them and read the page perfectly. He was so proud of himself and he finished the story with a smile on his face. I told the teacher about it the next day and she laughed and said that she and Ethan would have to take some Yoga classes together. I know that Ethan will do so much better next year once he and Emily are separated.

And I just have to say how much fun we had last night when my friend, Kristi, and her family came to stay with us. I've "known" Kristi for years through my message board, but last night was the first time that we got to meet in person. They live in northern Alabama and were on their way home from Disney World and I am soooooo thankful that they went out of their way to come by our house for the night just to see us. Our kids had the best time playing and Ethan and Emily hated having to go to school this morning. We hope that we can go visit them some time this summer and that they will get the chance to come back down here for a longer visit. Ethan is dying to go to their house because they live by Space Camp. :)