Doing the "Write" Thing

Well, here we are. Winding down another summer.

May 20-something seems like yesterday. Yet, May 20-something I thought, how am I going to make it until August 20-something?

For some reason I was dreading it.

Maybe it's the "dynamics" I have going on in the house right now. Ya know...three very different ages. Three very different stages. Three very different and precious personalities. There's no doubt that I love each one of them more than life itself for who and where they are, but it all seems so daunting to manage sometimes.

But somehow I have managed another fun, long, hot summer with my little peeps.

Overall, it's been really good and I didn't go into "Crazy Mommy" mode as often as I thought I would.

And lately, I'm all for "whatever works". I think you kinda have to be that way as a mom of 3 boys!

In our effort to maintain order and reinforce our expectations for S & F, Shan and I decided to do something different this year and have tried not to raise our voices.

I'm not saying that hasn't happened at all, because inevitably there will be days when certain people choose to blatantly ignore your instruction. But it has NOT been our go-to summer parenting method like it has been in the past.

Any who...

We have decided to make them write. Yes. Write.

Kinda like your teacher may have done.

Depending on the severity of the offense, it could be 10 to 25 times of a particular statement such as "I will not..." or {for Sam} a paragraph/essay on "Why he shouldn't..." or "What would have been a better choice".

It lasts as long as they make it last. It's legal. It's portable. All you need is a notebook and a pencil. I don't think it's anything that will land them in a shrink's office either. And the best part, they learn from it.

We've reached a point where writing for a consequence is as painful as having to lose the Wii or TV for a week and it appears to be as bad as having to sit in time-out or being reprimanded in front of your friends.

I don't have to fight them to do it. They just know that they can't get up or move on until they've finished. One takes longer than the other due to the drama involved...but we won't mention any names. ;-)

Recently, I went back through the notebook and started laughing at some of "The Best of Summer 2012". I thought I'd share a couple.

So without further ado...

I posted this one on Facebook a few weeks back and got a barrage of "likes" and hilarious comments. I think lots of people can relate.

I realize we clearly have a throwing problem.

And what I love on a couple of these is how they tried to weasel out of writing the whole sentence or change it to a shorter sentence, only to have to re-write it per mom and dad's request. Ha! And then they REALLY loved us.

All I can say, is it's just a day in the life of a mom of three boys...doing whatever works.

I have been told by very wise women that I will look back and laugh at these days. I already am. And I love that some of it has been documented...in their handwriting!

XO,