We're trying a new thing. This morning Tobin was driving me up the wall with his whining, a vice that has become overwhelming of late. I managed to force a few drops of vinegar down his mouth. Boy, did he hate that! There was much screaming and wailing, but when he calmed down, I was able to talk to him about how yucky his whining sounded, just like the vinegar tasted yucky. He keeps telling me he does not want anymore "whining medicine!" So I of course reply that as long as he remembers not to whine, he won't get any!
As an extra twist, I also talked to the kids about making their words "sweet" and kind (our verse this week is Eph. 4:32--appropriate), and I have cups with their names on them on the counter. For every "sweet" thing I hear them say (i.e. "yes, Mommy" right away when I tell them to do something, or saying kind things to one another), I drop an M&M in the cup. After dinner tonight they get to eat however many M&Ms are in the cup. I will take away M&Ms for disagreeable speech, tattling, etc. And of course, there is always the whining medicine if we need it again. We'll see how this works...
This creative idea brought to you by Lisa Whelchel from her book Creative Correction.
3 comments:
Oooh, I like the "sweet words" cup. I want to read Welchel's book, because I've heard a lot of good things about it. We've had to use Tobasco sauce for times when the tongues have just been out of control--VERY effective, and not needed more than a few times!
*smiling* We have used vinegar, too. The problem is that TJ likes the taste. I'll have to try the Tobasco and see if that's better!
I think I'll be heading out to replace the vinegar this morning. I realized I was out while trying to dye eggs on Thursday (do you think Balsamic would work as well?) John's whining words have been a challenge fora ll of us lately, esp. his siblings, and we certainly have enough candy around here to start the M&M cup!
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