The Pushover.

So a joke among my brothers and I (and my mother) is that my mom's disciplining style was um...to try not to laugh at us. Because while we certainly weren't angels we have the ability to be silly under pressure...so basically there wasn't a whole lot of disciplining going on when I was a kid. Sure, sure we got grounded here and there and the occasional butt swat...but for the most part not much. Luckily we really weren't horrible kids....now me as a teenager is totally other post--I wasn't bad but I wasn't afraid to voice my opinion typically in rude teenager fashion.

Anyway it is occurring to me recently that I might be heading towards the same direction...ok ok. Truth be told we are total pushovers and it isn't something that recently occurred to me but is recently becoming more of an issue. We have a 9 year old who is starting to pretty much think we are stupid and mean with frequency....and that's kinda hard to deal with. But at the same time we have to stick to our guns and "lay down the law" even if that means they don't like us or think we are mean.

Another example...the school thing with the Gbabes. He's not a fan....so yesterday and Monday he stayed home....I made every excuse in the book justifying him staying home. He did have a cold but really it was a no, he should have been at school. He went today and I instituted a little tough love and he did much better than last week when I was a big softy. As in he cried all morning before we left but Robert and I are pretty much over it so it didn't get him anywhere and guess who didn't cry when I dropped him off. Exactly. Basically it stinks to be the "bad guy" from time to time but it's so necessary in this kid raising thing....I am having to remind myself a lot lately as I justify this behavior or that and really it's not fair to anyone. Especially them in the long run.