Making the Punishment Fit the Crime...

The past few months, Carson has had a bit of a bad attitude at home. He has been sarcastic, and rude, and blatantly disobedient. His disobedience hasn't been about big things, but it has been persistent. And, when punished for it, he oozes an I-don't-care-about-your-punishments attitude. We grounded him from TV multiple times. It wasn't changing things...the disobedience and attitude problem persisted.

Then I thought back to my childhood. Mom was crazy strict...but she could also be crazy creative when it came to making the punishment fit the crime. So, I took inspiration from Mom's playbook.

The third day in a row that he sauntered off the bus, all coolness and attitude, NOT wearing his jacket on a chilly day...I was ready for him. I told him that he was not going to be grounded from TV for refusing to wear his jacket. (Molly wasn't pleased about that.) I also told him that he disobeys me so much because he is OBVIOUSLY smarter than me. And, if he's smarter than Mommy, then he doesn't NEED a Mommy to take care of him.

So, he quickly found out (to Molly's delight) that Molly and I were going out to dinner at our local Chinese restaurant. Since Daddy was working late, Carson was coming along, but he wasn't welcome to eat our dinner. He had to make his own dinner. (After all, he doesn't NEED a Mommy!)

He chuckled. And when I didn't laugh along, he realized it was no joke. "But I don't know HOW to make my own dinner," he complained. I suggested he might want to make himself a peanut butter sandwich. I said he had to make his dinner with no help, pack it in a bag, and eat it at the Chinese restaurant.
He assembled all the ingredients needed and made himself two peanut butter sandwiches. Then he put those sandwiches and a chocolate pudding cup in a brown bag. It took him a while to get it together and he was SUPER quiet while doing so.

At the restaurant, Molly and I walked up to the counter and ordered noodles and dumplings (Carson's favorites). Carson headed directly to a table and began solemnly unpacking his dinner.
While it may seem "cruel and unusual punishment" to force him to eat a peanut butter sandwich in his favorite restaurant, you can't argue with the results. His attitude has been adjusted. And the disobedience has completely disappeared.

Thanks for the inspiration, Mom!