I took Ty to the library the other morning, really for the first time, so that he could pick out a few books and we could create a new summertime activity. He thought it was cool to pick out the 5 books that I was allowing him and he didn't have a clue where to start! His 2 favorites are No Dessert Forever and David Gets in Trouble. On one page, David is sitting with a bar of soap in his mouth because he said a bad word. Ty was really taken by this and talked about this page more than the others when we flipped to it. This started my wheels turning because one of Ty's new favorite sayings is poopy b.utt. So, I told Ty that the next time he said a bad word he was going to get soap in his mouth. It didn't take long before I was pushed to stand by my word. I really didn't want to do it but I knew that if I said I was going to, I had to.
So, I chased him down (hey, I guess the punishment was going to work if he was dreading it!) and got as much soap in his mouth as I could through clinched teeth. He hated it and made it seem like I was abusing him, the way he was screaming. The next time it happened (yes, 3 "soapings" in 2 days) I got smart and lathered up the soap before he got it. Again, he hated it. The bad words have stopped (for the moment) and I'm not sure if it's because of the soap or for other reasons, but Ty still talks about David and knows that he will be like David if he says a bad word again. Ty also tells me when he sees the picture of David sitting there with soap in his mouth, that the soap means "hush your mouth".
5 comments:
hahaha... i had that done to me several times as a child. it did stop the language (around mom) and i think she wishes she could do it to me again sometimes even today. i am watching my own mouth now b/c i dont want polly to pick up on anything... but sometimes it's hard.
and why is it that they pick up on the one thing you do wrong and all that you do right seems to take such repitition?
Good for you for doing what you told him you would! And it sounds like you got some exercise in, to boot :)
He sounds like one smart kiddo.
Love the old "wash your mouth out"...had to do it to D once--he then wiped his mouth on the carpet thing that goes around the toilet-EEWWW!
hee, hee That's kinda funny. Did you have a hard time keeping a straight face while you did it??
Ah, I never had a whole bar of soap in the mouth - my mom made us use our toothbrush - we had to put it on the soap and then brush our teeth. But good for you for standing your ground - there is nothing worse than if they sense weakness! Then you are definitely in for it!
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