Have I scarred my kids for life by showing them jail or did I teach them a really great lesson?
It all started one day when I put Evan in "mommy jail". As summer was dwindling, so was my 5-year-old's attitude and my patience with him. I think someone took my sweet, innocent little boy and replaced him with a smart-mouthed hellion. He could give any parent of a teenager a run for their money! I hate to see what he'll be like as a teen if he keeps up this attitude.
So one night when my husband and I were running out of discipline strategies, we watched Supernanny together and took copious notes.
The next day when Evan lipped off to me, I followed Supernanny's directions to a T. Step one: warning; Step two: time out; Step three: get down to the child's level and discuss their behavior.
After about 10 tries at this methodology, Evan continued to mock the timeout process. After keeping my cool for so long, I finally lost it and said, "Go to your room, you're not getting dinner, you're going straight to bed!" I felt bad about the no dinner, so I brought him a tray of carrots and a cheese sandwich and said, "See, this is how people in jail eat. You're in jail for being naughty."
Evan has always been smarter than his years and said to me, "Mom, you can't put me in jail, that's what the police do." I was determined to win this battle so I told him, "You're in mommy jail." I then went on to explain that I didn't want him to grow up to be a bad guy and that little boys that don't listen to their parents often end up in jail.
Apparently this message stuck, perhaps a little too well. That night he cried to his daddy, "I don't want to grow up to be a bad guy."
A few days later, the sassing started again. I really think he's just bored and needs to start school, but nonetheless I can't stand it. We were on the way to take a bike ride around the lake when I turned around the mommy van and said, "Let's go visit jail."
There was a look of horror on Evan's face like I'd never seen before. "No mommy, I don't want to go to jail!" You aren't going to jail, I explained, "We're just going to visit some guys that didn't listen to their mommies when they were little and they made some bad choices. I don't want you to ever go to jail."
Perhaps I took this jail thing a little too far. But mind you, this jail is like the Sofitel of jails. It was built two years ago and resides next to a giant Lifetime Fitness and some huge new houses. Hey, if I had to go to jail, this one definitely wouldn't suck. Besides, it isn't exactly a high security prison. More like the place that you go if you have too many speeding tickets.
I called my mom and asked her if taking my boys to visit jail was wrong. She said, "What a great idea!" Then it hit me. I've started mothering like my mother. This is exactly the kind of crazy thing that she would do, and now I've done it too!
So is he scarred for life or cured of his disrespectful behavior? I guess only time will tell.
