The Payback Chronicles: Mommy's Edition

Oh parenting.

We've been having some "episodes" with Gabriel lately. I won't give too many details- as I have a huge monkey on my back reminding me that I perpetuated so-called episodes by catering to him to avoid a meltdown a time or two.... or two-hundred.

Guess who hasn't been catering to him and has dealt with many a breakdown. His teacher. Bless her.

This weekend after a firm attempt to regain the pants in this family, I insisted on Gabriel doing as I told him. Can we say melt down? Oh, the pain. Oh, the shame. Oh, the tears.

And that was only my reaction.

I decided I needed to put the smack down. minus the smack. And since I am a firm believer in the television and all the reality it offers me, I took some advice from Jo-Jo the Supernanny. I busted out the time-out matt.

I am resourceful.

The time-out matt was a great threat for a good part of the weekend. And then tonight, my genes kicked in. Anyone have a childhood memory of outsmarting your parents? Like when you asked for something that you really, really wanted- and they gave in and then you abandoned the very thing you couldn't live without. Then when asking for the next hot item that you really, really wanted, the parentals reminded you that the last time you begged and pleaded with them you didn't follow through. To which your reply was,

"So I lied."

You can't acquire wit and charm, people. You're just born with it.

And then you give birth to it 16 years later.

Tonight, I asked Gabriel to clean up a mess that he had made. He was very reluctant. So da-da,da DAH! Time-out matt was threatened. I walked away certain that he would be cleaning up. Walked back to find him nowhere in sight. Guess where he was?

On the time-out matt. Contempt with his choice over not cleaning up.

child: 1 ; parent: 0