Wednesday, October 10, 2007

I Still Have It

Went to court today. Salinda's public defender is an interesting, unique, and enjoyable person. I enjoy the intensity, the opinionated nature, and the idiocyncracies. But today I had to chuckle. He was expressing his opinion about another person in the court room and began to form the word b**** until I gave him the "mom" look. It was hilarious how I was able to change his speech pattern with just one look. I still have it!

Salinda has some pretty serious charges pending and she needs to really keep her nose clean. I'm going to help her by saying no more often than yes and hopefully she'll be fairly compliant. She still is maintaining a good attitude and being appropriate and we're all hoping she'll hold it together. Today it was suggested that if she did not stay out of trouble she would have the opportunity to get a license revoked until she turns 18. I think this is going to help deter her...

1 comment:

FosterAbba said...

Did you know it's possible to say "yes" more often than "no" and still have the "yes" mean "no?"

Confusing, I realize, but sometimes it works better on kids.

Take the following example:

Kid: Can I watch TV?

Parent: No, because you haven't cleaned your room.

Try this approach instead...

Kid: Can I watch TV?

Parent: You may watch TV just as soon as your chores are done.

If you do it that way, then you don't come out quite as often as the bad guy.

In the case of your daughter and her less-than-stellar friends, you can either let them visit your place or just come back with the following question, "Do you think associating with friends who are involved in your criminal case would be a wise choice as far as your probation is concerned?"

There are many other ways to say no without using the word. Try it and see if that helps some of the bad attitudes around there.

Of course I realize it's easier said than done. We use this technique on our kid and it works most, but not all of the time.

Sometimes, we just live with Nasty Child no matter what we do.