Improving Attitudes

We've all had those days. You know the kind I'm talking about. Where you think you'd gladly trade in parenting for the freedom of childless days no matter how long it took you to become a mom, or how long you wished for the family you have. If you haven't had one of those days, don't tell me. I'm consoling myself with the idea that I can't possibly be the only one. What's really super fun, is when that one day stretches and becomes a week, two weeks, or more. And, yes, that is my attempt at sarcasm.

I've had a few of those weeks. I thought when Summer came, my daughters attitudes would improve. After all, it had to get better when they weren't stuck inside the house together all day, right? It turns out, not so much.

Yesterday was my end. I was so fed up I was beyond furious. And as any mother knows, that is the worst time to come up with a good or creative idea on how to make things better. So enter my hero, my husband.

Dominic thought it would be a good idea to see if absence didn't make the heart grow fonder. So, for two days the girls would be grounded. Bridget would have to stay upstairs. She'd have access to the toys in her room, and the computer. Piper would have to stay downstairs. She'd have access to the toys in the playroom and the TV. They'd be allowed to be together for school and meals. Period.

When Dominic suggested it, I almost dismissed it. I'm kind of possessive of my whole mothering thing, and I thought coming up with creative discipline ideas was my area of expertise. But I quickly remembered that he has good ideas too, and that I was in no place to come up with something. So, we implemented it.

This afternoon we hit the 24 hour mark. And let me tell you, it has been amazing. The girls were so good in school, they finished 40 minutes early. They did beautiful work and were exceedingly polite. Throughout the rest of the day they've had amazing attitudes, doing what they've been told, being kind to one another. Bridget even stopped herself from having a display of temper when something didn't go her way. Color me impressed.

This evening, after her bath, Bridget told us that she missed her sister. Amazing. These girls needed to remember how much they enjoy each others company and how much they love each other. And they are! Tomorrow afternoon they'll be put back together and we'll see how much they learned from our experiment. I know I learned something important: Trust my husband. He's a pretty darned good dad.