Hyrum had his first experience with a little fib. While Mom was upstairs showering, he was supposedly downstairs enthralled with Sesame Street. Brad came in the room, saw him stuff Dad’s Haagen Dazs bar under the chair cushion (thanks, La-Z-Boy for Scotch guard!), and asked him what he was up to. Hyrum innocently and convincingly told Dad that Mom said he could have one. Brad proceeded up the stairs and asked for the truth. Not only was Hyrum punished with a long stint in the corner, no TV and no snacks for the rest of the day, he also was told that he would receive our standard family punishment for lying—a teaspoon of vinegar. All my kids dread this experience, but I’ve found it’s way more effective than soap or pepper since it has the added benefit of upsetting their stomach for a little while afterward, reinforcing the punishment. I poured a few drops into a teaspoon and told him that if he didn’t open his mouth by the time I counted to three, I would double it (ask Tucker why that penalty was added). He reluctantly opened his mouth, in went the spoon and off he ran to get a drink of water.
After his sip of water, he matter-of-factly looked at me and said, “Mom, that wasn’t too bad.”
We may need to think of another option for Mr. Steel Stomach.
Maggie DREADS the vinegar when we threaten it, but then when we actually do it, though there are tears aplenty, she's usually over it in a couple minutes. But soap for her REALLY lasts a long time.
ReplyDeleteyeah my mom did the whole pepper AND soap thing for a bit...but it didn't work as well as tabasco sauce. now THAT was effective! (:
ReplyDeleteoh no! you are gonna have your hands all full of trouble with that one!
ReplyDeleteI used to punish with mustard, because in my mind, it is the grossest taste on earth. My kids didn't like either...at first. Now they all ask for it on their sandwiches. But vinegar is genious. No-one likes it that much...except maybe your son.
ReplyDeleteOh, now that is funny!
ReplyDeleteSomething my Janey would do!
Enjoy the day
I think the vinegar is genius. Here's a discipline question for you. Do you punish for lying only if caught in the act or if you suspect strongly that a lie has been told.
ReplyDeleteI ask because I think my second son has a tendency to tell lies. But, even when I strongly suspect he's not telling me the truth (and it usually involves one brother tattling on him for something & him denying it) I feel like I'll end up punishing him the one time he's really telling the truth.
In other words, how do you get to the bottom of things if they don't 'fess up?
We too use vinegar. It works like a charm most of the time. Try a little tabasco sauce for that steel stomach! :)
ReplyDeleteI used to use a bit of soap for bad words, but I never thought of using anything for lies other than making sure they got in more trouble for the lying than they would have for telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteOf course, they still got in trouble when they did something wrong and told the truth about it. But the punishment was applied with a lot of sympathy and affirmation for having fessed up.
Glad I'm past all of that now!
=)
Jen, thanks for swinging by my blog to answer my question. Dealing with the whole lying issue with my children has been a real struggle for me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd love to hear more about you and your husband's adventures in real estate. It really has been a stretch for me & I keep hoping & praying that it really does pay off.
Don't you love the fact that you have to keep being creative with your children. . .what worked for one doesn't neccessarily work for another! Keeps us on our toes.
ReplyDeleteYuck. Ice cream on the couch? Why in the world would mom ok that one?
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! Reminds me of the time I spanked my youngest for going in the street and he looked at me and said "That didn't hurt."
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea! It sure would leave a bitter nasty flavor. I've heard Tabasco sauce is another good one.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that cute - I'm sure you didn't think so at the time!
ReplyDeleteWe always used cayenne pepper - I like the vinegar idea though, I can definately see the benefits.
I think either of them are better than soap!
He's so cute I bet it's hard to punish him. :-D
My kids still think pickles are punishment!! I remember doubling Dallins dose 3 times before I finally straddled his chest and plugged his nose and poured it in, amazingly that was the only time he had to have it. Any other time I would just threaten and it was enough. Wonder if it would work now to get him to do his dishes?
ReplyDeleteLove ya,
Please write a book on parenting so I don't have to keep a list of this stuff. You'd save me a lot of trouble and some disk space.
ReplyDeleteBecause I'm seriously going to use that if I ever have kids.
That's the worst stage- when the half truths and fibs appear out of nowhere from you sweet child's lips. I've never heard of vinegar- that's a good remedy.
ReplyDeleteInteresting form of punishment :) So a spoonful of Vinegar, huh? I have to remember to use that trick when E is older. Any tricks for tantrums?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I'll have to tell my daughter about the vinegar since my grandson just figured out about the "lying" game. LOL
ReplyDelete