Today in celebration the junior choir was to sing with the senior choir. Wanting the girls to look their best I got Abby up in the morning and asked her to please get into the shower. She didn't want to have a shower and I was pretty insistent that she was going to have one. I hopped in to have mine and asked her one more time to get ready to get in when I was done. I felt it was a pretty reasonable request and there shouldn't be any further problem. But I got out of the shower and she had made no move to have hers. So I grounded her.
Cue the waterworks, the stamping of the feet and the slamming of the bedroom door. After, of course, she begged me to let her have a shower. No dice..... I'm mean like that. I mean it wasn't like she was filthy, but since she's been swimming almost every day her hair gets really dry and it really needed a good conditioning.
Everything about Abby leads me to believe that she's going to be one of those girls who does the whole puberty thing sooner than later. All of the sudden she's moody, defiant and argumentative - oh and prone to tears... that one's my favourite. It's a new experience to both of us.
So we talked and I explained to her that I didn't ask too much of her, but when I did ask her to do something I expected it to be done, that it's not a suggestion. That particular issue is becoming a very large problem and that's why I felt the grounding was warranted and necessary. So we went to church, shared a potluck lunch afterward and then we headed for home.
Mike left shortly after to run some errands and then to work at the farm and it was just us girls. No TV. No friends. I was prepared for a very crummy afternoon. Instead I got a teeny tiny nap while the girls played beautifully together with their new to them Littlest Pet Shop house. Then Abby coloured quietly by herself while Maya took over full control of the Littlest Pet Shop kingdom. Abby and I played Downfall (very cool two person game that I highly recommend). Then Abby attempted to teach Maya the finer points of Connect Four. We finished reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid (can't remember which book it was). I got a foot massage from both girls. Abby is thinking these days she'd really like to work at a spa giving massages. That gave way to more Connect Four - Abby and I this time. Dinner, granola bars, then a bath, more Connect Four and then bed.
Several times today Abby commented that she was enjoying being grounded. She said as much to Mike when he called to say good night to them. "It was lots of fun, once you get past not playing with your friends," she told him. She mentioned it again when I was tucking her into bed. Going so far as to say that she was glad she was still grounded tomorrow. And you know what, I enjoyed it as well. The kids have been in bed for an hour and I've still yet to turn on the TV. Now Maya wasn't grounded from TV, but yet she never asked for it all day either. And Abby even asked if we could have more TV free days. A very big yes to that.
On one hand you could say that perhaps then she missed the point of the grounding, but I don't think so. Because today she was much more like herself than she has been in a few weeks. And for that I think we were both very grateful.
1 comment:
It sounds like she learned great lessons while being grounded.
Post a Comment