jen3kids Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Older ds is off school today. I had planned on taking him to see a movie this morning and running errands, having lunch, etc while dd was at school and younger ds went to a soccer camp. Unfortunately, he and dh had an argument this morning and ds threw a deck of cards (plastic cards) against the wall and a bunch of them broke (what is with plastic cards anyway?) I looked up how much it would be to replace them. $16!!!!! I told ds that before he goes anywhere today he needs to work off the cost of the cards. He just wanted to pay me, but I refused - too easy. I figured 3 hours work and wrote out a list of stuff to do. Just now he had the biggest tirade trying to prove that throwing the cards could not have possibly caused them to break - someone else must have cut them up and put them back in the box - sigh! I kept my cool, refusing to engage, whistling and repeating myself ad naseum, "Yes, I know you don't agree, but that is what happened and these are the consequences." He finally picked up a card, and, as he said, "Look, banging the card on its edge doesn't break it!", hits the card on the kitchen counter. It breaks into 4-5 pieces. "Oh, I just proved myself wrong." he says, absolutely stunned. He gives me a grin, and an apology and gets to work. He is now cleaning the mudroom. Next is the basement and then a couple bathrooms and possibly baseboards. And, I know that many of you wouldn't have listened to his tirade. We're working on that.... He wasn't screaming, out of control, thank goodness. He was really trying to argue his case to his benefit. But I had a wicked headache when it was finally over. I love this boy, but man, he is exhausting sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 :grouphug: Sounds like you handled it perfectly. I also have one who won't be told and has to learn things themselves the hard way, it can be very frustrating. It seems like a happy ending though. Did he get his new cards? Best wishes Cassy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Actually it's a card game that the kids hardly play anymore, but I couldn't let him get away with destroying them. The younger two still like to play it, although neither will be heartbroken if we don't replace them. He is very definitive on what's fair and not and it can be very frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I'd say you handled it rather well. Good for him for realizing his error. Some kids would have continued to escalate after the card broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 A few years ago he would have kept it up or found something else to argue about. He is making progress, but it seems like 2 steps forward, one step backward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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