The Meservy family Rules!

Okay, well, we made some rules up, anyway.

So, I went to see my counselor last Thursday, and we worked on solutions for some of my overwhelming parenting stress. And life change #2 was to sit down as a family and come up with a few rules that are very important to 1. me and Royal and 2. the kids. Then, we decide on simple, easy-to-implement consequences for each rule. Then, we post them in a prominent place. So, every time a rule is broken, the “perpetrator” is taken to the fridge, read the rule and consequence, and given the consequence.

Here are the 7 rules/consequences we've come up with so far:
For Children

1. Must come and go when ordered by Mom and Dad
Consequence: 5 minute timeout and Re-enact desired scenario 3 times

2. No lying
Consequence: Spoonful of vinegar

3. No touching Mom or Dad's stuff
Consequence: Timeout and Replay

4. No screaming or talking mean
Consequence: Spoonful of vinegar and replay

5. No Inside toys taken outside
Consequence: Gunny bag eats toys (they will be returned within a week)

6. No touching door locks
Consequence: Give up favorite toy to Gunny Bag


For Mom and Dad
1. No fits of uncontrolled anger (No Angry Mommy fits)
Consequence: Spoonful of Vinegar, Timeout, and Replay

Okay, so that is a lot for you to read, but there is more. There is still left to tell the tale of our first day of posted rules.

So, it is a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and our freshly posted rules are glistening in the sunlight. The next thing you know, Sienna is screaming at Grace. So, I take her to the fridge and read the rule/consequence. Then, I measure out vinegar in a Tablespoon (I didn't fill it all the way.). She asks if it is medicine, and I tell her it is naughty medicine. She drinks it without blinking, and she says, "Mommy, is it sour?" So, I assume the stuff is pretty benign. (I don't remember the last time I tasted straight vinegar.)

An hour or so later, the girls and I are out spreading wood ash on our freshly tilled garden plot (Thank you, Mr. Farmer!!!) for fertilizer. As I lean over the wheelbarrow, Sienna slips and hits me over the head with a spade full of ashes.

"Aaaaaggggghhhh!", I scream, as I throw down my own spade, and try to shake off most of the mess.

"Uh, oh!", says Grace, "No Angry Mommy fits! Let's go look at the chart..."

And, the next thing you know, I'm looking for a medium sized spoon and filling it with clear vinegar. No big deal. (I do have a throat already raw from coughing, BTW.) I confidently tip up my spoon, and then...

I am gagging, and sputtering, my throat is on fire, and I'm grabbing for a glass of water to make it go away! I might as well have swallowed a spoon of Clorox! Holy Cow! That was the nastiest, most disgusting thing I remember having to swallow! My throat didn't stop burning for a full minute!

When I am done choking, Grace is looking quite upset and she says, "Mommy, I don't want to have that as a consequence for lying. Can we change the consequence, Mommy?"

And I'm saying to Royal, "That's it! I AM DONE!! I am NEVER going to throw another MOMMY FIT again! NEVER! That was NASTY! That was horrible! That was awful!"

"Really? That bad?" says my beloved.

Yeah, so, now I say, the prisons might not be so crowded if only a few more Moms had known the secret power of Vinegar. Yuck!