I Punished My Child

I caught the kid lying last week.  And I was pissed.  If that's one thing that gets under my skin it is lying.  Well, she's 7, so there isn't too much to take away from a kid at this age...toys?  TV?  Playdates (is it worth the risk of insanity?) 

Anyway, this is the second time in a year (I KNOW, count my blessings) that I've caught her lying.  (NOTE I SAID CAUGHT!!!)  This time I was really mad though because she told me her teacher said something and then I confronted the teacher.  Even though I was very nice and tiptoeing around the issue (I paid for a calculator she has to have and she hasn't received it.  So instead of telling me she didn't get it she told me the teacher said she never got the money that MY DAD gave directly to the when he took her to school.)  Needless to say, I felt like a fool.. Why would the kid lie about something so stupid?  It wasn't like she was responsible for giving the teacher money.  (And I did ask her why she would lie and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know.")

Well, I decided her punishment would be one FULL week without TV.  I know, I'm a bitch, right?  When you really consider it though, in our house it's not much of a punishment.  We watch MAYBE 2 shows a week and we don't have cable...rough life, I know.  My child is deprived.  Call Social Services.  Report me.

I really did not even think it would turn into so much drama, but it did!  The kid LOVES Wipe-Out.  Anyway, I sent her to bed last night and came out and turned on the TV.  Being the only mindless thing on TV I sat to watch it.  Duh, duh, duh, dummmm...she comes out of bed for a glass of water and FLIPS when she sees me watching Wipe Out.  I'm talking full on sobs, hysterics, feet stomping 3 year old temper tantrum.  (I'd love to know what my not-so-friendly neighbors think considering they were outside and our windows were wide open.  They probably thought I was beating her or something with the way she was carrying on.)

So I tell her to get her butt back in bed and the hysterics continue for another 1/2 hour.  "Moooom, please can't you at least watch something else on TV?  ANYTHING but WIPE OUT!!!!????!!!"  Sob, sob, scream, jump on the bed, stomp the feet on the floor, etc.  I'm the absolute WORST mom in the whole wide world!!!

Finally 1/2 hour later after ignoring her she comes out and tells me she needs cough medicine because she is so sick.  Me being the ultimate bitch tells her, "Go back to bed, you feel the way you do because you were crying and carrying on like a 3 year old.  No go back in that bed and do not get up again."

Mission accomplished.  She stayed in bed and fell asleep within 10 minutes.

Now....I wonder, when is the next time she is going to lie again?  And will she think twice about it???

(And I can't help but feel a slight victory that I stuck to my guns, I think she learned a lesson.  For once I didn't feel guilty about being "tough."  Maybe her hysterics and drama helped dissapate the guilt factor)

If my hip were better I'd take a victory lap....