Corporal punishment

As you all know I am totally against spanking, hitting, slapping etc when it comes to kids. I have gotten better about other people doing it. If you spank, fine don't talk to me about it. If you do it in front of me I have gotten really good at turning around, counting to ten and calming down rather then decking you in the face to see how you like it.

That being said, you must wonder what I do to my kids. Spanking parents will say, "you better knock it off or you will get a spanking." Most likely your kid stops. But me, I don't spank and time out is worthless now so what do I do?

I've held off telling you this forever because I'm sure someone is going to tell me I am a monster who is going to totally fuck up their kid for life, but seriously if you make it through parent hood and you haven't fucked up your kid just a little, consider yourself a failure.

Brandon is absolutely 100% terrified of vacuums. Even dustbusters. One day Rob was vacuuming and Brandon ran screaming. About 10 minutes later he grabbed a toy from Codi thus making Codi scream. I told him to give it back and he shouted NO! Rob turned around and as a joke pointed the vacuum wand at him and within seconds Brandon had given that toy back.

Hmmmm. He might be on to something. So now, when Brandon is being a shit head, you might here me say, "you better knock if off or I'll get the vacuum."

Is it mean? Yes? Do I care? NO! Is my kid probably going to grow up having some kind of vacuum disorder? Sure. But who cares, his future wife can deal with it when she goes to vacuum the table and her husband goes running in the closet to hide.

Last week we were at Walmart and Brandon had gone way past shit head and moved on to "your being such a shit head mommy needs a valium and shot of Jager to handle you." I begged him to be good. I said there would be no park after, that he couldn't see papa later, that he couldn't have desert. NOTHING WORKED. He was pushing all of my buttons and making it worse, the little fucker was laughing because he knew I was defenseless.

Then it hit me!

"Brandon, do you know what they sell here?

"What"

"Vacuums!"

"(silence)"

"Big big vacuums too!"

The remainder of the trip he was the most well behaved angel child I've ever seen in my life. Score one for mom!

I've never actually had to go get the vacuum, he's never pushed me that far. Once, the other morning after 45 minutes of me telling him to put on his goddamn fucking clothes for school I had totally had enough. He was jumping on his bed playing around saying "you can't make me" and laughing with Codi as he threw his socks and shirt out his room and said "na na na na." I had enough. I marched downstairs, reached up to the shelf that had the dust buster on it and turned it on. I didn't even take it off the holder just turned it on. 34 seconds later my child came down fully dressed, shoes and all, his dirty jammies in the hamper like a good child!

I giggled, grabbed the keys and headed out the door feeling like I had triumphed just this one morning.

So. There you have it. My dirty little secret. I use electronics to whip my kid into shape!

Aside from spanking how do you get your kids to listen? Do you have any special bribes that you use to make your kids listen? Tell me, what works for you and your kids?

posted on Feb. 22, 2009

Comments

Feb. 22 2009	emery jo said… heck- whatever works!!! For us, all I have to say is "If you keep disobeying, you will have to go straight to bed with no stories and no snuggles tonight." And if it's the middle of the day, I tell him he'll have to take a nap. Works like a charm for us! (USUALLY.)
Feb. 22 2009	Julia said… Haha, that's kind of funny and great that it works! Back when we were little my mom told my younger brother we'd go put him on the highest tree in the forest nearby and that always scared him out of being bad too. (we would have never actually done it of course). I am absolutely against spanking too by the way. I think Jayla will be a piece of work when she gets older (I mean hell, she's a redhead...) but I swore to myself that I'd never ever hit her no matter what. Oh and by the way, I love your new blog!!!!!
Feb. 23 2009	Shawna said… hahahaha We have nothing that works consistantly. Threatening her with going to her room works pretty well though. Except when we are in public and she can't go to her room. Have you thought about buying a little portable vacuum for your purse? hahaha
Feb. 23 2009	Christy said… I am not a fan of spanking either, but I do kind of intimidate my child. When Porgie is being a jerk, I get down to her level, cup her chin in my hand, get about an inch away from her face, and then I tell her what I expect her do or to stop doing. She always gets that deer-in-the-headlights look on face and stops being a little jerk. It works for us.
Feb. 23 2009	Tabitha said… I don't agree with smacking either~ I usually have to threaten my daughter with her not going to her dance classes ~ that usually works ~ also the other morning I threatened that I would take her to school in just her pants if she didn't get her uniform on ~ you should have seen her move ha ha !! Luckily my son tends to do as he is asked ~ so he very rarely gets the threats!! (wise boy!) Love and hugs Tabitha XXXXX
Feb. 24 2009	Steph said… he, this totally reminded me of my dad and his parents! when he was a kid, he was TERRIFIED of roller coasters (they lived by the boardwalk). So, his parents would threaten to take him on a roller coaster if he didn't fall in line. It also worked like a charm. He still doesn't like roller coasters very much, but he doesn't have any weird issues with them so maybe Brandon will be in the clear with vacuums too haha
Feb. 25 2009	Angie said… Ok am I the only person who thinks this is absoutely hilarious!! I find nothing mean...it's not like you can actual beat him with the vaccuum...sure maybe he has a phobia for a few years about them, but by the time he's an adult I'm sure there will be no side affects. And if there are, pass this little fun fact on to his wife and when he pisses her off she can turn the vaccuum on him too! I think it's hilarious and I absoutely love how you parent the boys!!