Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

Last night I made some food for dinner that the kids did not like. Ethan soldiered through and ate it anyway, but the girls both sort of moved it around and then once I left the table, they did too. I told them both that when the basement was clean and their plates were empty, we would all have ice cream. Then I went down to start picking up the toys while the girls went back to the table. Pretty soon Brenna wandered down. A few minutes later here came Taylie. I asked them both "did you eat your food?" Brenna said no, but Taylie said yes. Once the basement was clean, I told Brenna "come up with me and I'll help you finish your dinner". Lo and behold - Brenna's plate had quite a bit more food there than I had originally given her. Hmmmm . . . suspicious. I questioned Taylie about it and she caved right away. Yes, she'd scraped her dinner onto Brenna's plate and then lied about it. I put Taylie's portion back on her plate, along with about half of Brenna's food. Taylie said "I don't think I had this much left" so I said "no you didn't, but I figured you deserved this". Defeated sigh from Taylie. Then I sat there and watched her eat it all. She said "you don't have to stay here" and I said "apparently I do". It was one of my finer parenting moments. Maybe Taylie (and Brenna) learned that I'm not as stupid as I look.

Piano (and Violin) Recital

Ethan's piano teacher has each student perform one solo piece and one duet. This year I asked if the duet could be Ethan on piano and Taylie on violin. Careene (the teacher) said she had never had a student do that kind of thing in a recital, but she was excited to try it. I was thrilled because since Taylie and I are the only students taking lessons from our violin teacher, there wasn't going to be a violin recital. It worked out perfectly!

Ethan actually performed two solo pieces. He chose The Entertainer because of a story I told him from my childhood. We had a babysitter who knew how to play that song on the piano, so every time she came we asked her to play it over and over while we danced around the living room. Now that I look back on that, I bet that poor girl just dreaded coming to our house. Mom, I hope you paid her well.

Laundry

When I was a kid my Mom had this rule that anything left in our pants pockets when she washed the pants became her property. Often this included spare change, and she said that was her 'tip' for being the laundress. Now that I have a bunch of people who leave stuff in their pockets, I've instituted the same rule. Up 'till now I've probably earned a grand total of about $4, mostly dimes and quarters swiped from Ethan's pockets. But I was patting down James's pockets today when I felt a suspicious crinkle. I reached in and found a 20! But wait, it gets better. I unfolded it and found that it was not one $20 bill, but four of them! That's right, 80 dollars! I am so dang excited! James must REALLY appreciate my laundry abilities.