Anyone out there like disciplining their kids? I didn't
think so. I could probably make an ill-suited Adrian Peterson with a switch
comment here but I'm not going to do that.
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| I'm sorry for writing that last statement, Adrian. Don't hurt me. |
Obviously, no one enjoys disciplining their kids but it does
serve a purpose. I think it's something along the lines of helping our children
to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults who contribute to society in a
positive manner. Either that or parents just want to keep themselves from going
nuts when society devolves into something straight out of 'Lord of the Flies'.
As a parent, you know you must be doing a good job when your
children start punishing themselves for their actions. For the record,
hopefully I'm not the only one who feels that way.
For this little story, allow me to flash back to yesterday
morning. Ethan was in the midst of his customary morning nap and Ellie was
happily playing in our family room. As for me, I was taking care of some much
needed business. And yes, that is code for using the bathroom.
Since Ethan had already been asleep for over an hour, I
decided it might be smart to leave the door ajar. That way I could be
absolutely certain that I would hear everything coming from his room across the
hall. That turned out to be a very good idea as there I was, reading through
all of the daily news, when I heard Ethan beginning to fuss. Since it was just
that, fussing, me ceasing my personal business and running to his rescue was
not an absolute priority. For Ethan's older sister though, that was not the
case.
When Ellie heard the minor fuss that her brother was
creating, she came bounding up the stairs and flew into the bathroom. She then
looked at me with a very concerned look on her face before saying,
"Ethan's awake. He's crying." My response? "Oh, honey. I want to
see if he won't go back to sleep before getting him" which is code for I
need to finish what I'm doing here. With that, Ellie backed out of the
bathroom, announcing that she was closing the door while doing so. Despite my
protests, Ellie still continued to do so.
Now, the next part of this is all speculation as I can't be
entirely certain. Shortly after Ellie closed the bathroom door, I heard what I believe
to be the unmistakable sound of a closed door opening. That sound was
accompanied by an increase in the tempo and pitch of Ethan's volume. In other
words, he started screaming. That sound was followed by what I imagine was the
closing of a door.
The next thing I knew, Ellie had joined me back in the
bathroom with a guilty look on her face. I looked at her and asked,
"Honey, did you open Ethan's door?" Her response was "No, I didn't."
To that, I responded, "Are you sure?". Ellie's reaction to that?
"I'm going to go to my room and think about what I did." And with
that, Ellie disappeared down the hall into her room, closing the door behind
her.
She finally reemerged about five minutes later to find Ethan
and me in our living room. As she slowly made her way down the stairs, Ellie
looked at me with a shy look on her face and said, "I've been in my room
thinking about what I did." Try though I might, I couldn't get any more
information out of her.
One thing is for sure. Bethany and I have reached that stage
of parenting where Ellie is willing to punish herself for what she perceives to
be her transgressions. It certainly makes our jobs easier and isn't that what
parenting is all about? #DaddyWrite
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| I've got to have a cute baby picture, right? |
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