punishment

The boys and I got off to a really rough start this morning. I was trying to get them both ready for school and I was at the receiving end of both their bad attitudes. Unfortunately, this seems to be pretty common as of late. So after several warnings to Koby regarding the tone of voice he uses when speaking to family members and the warnings apparently falling on deaf ears, I had no choice but to take away some privileges. By 8:00 a.m. he lost the privilege of playing with friends and Nintendo for the day. I was frustrated and he was MAD! (He even through out the, "I wish you were not coming to my school today" card....OUCH!)

He arrived home this afternoon with a smile on his face. WHEW, I thought to myself...but that relief was only short-lived as I heard his friend call from the bus window, "I'll call you in a bit!"

Oh, great...this is going to cause some serious drama I'm sure. So we ate snack, talked about his day and the phone rang. Quick glance at the caller ID told me that it was indeed his friend holding up his end of the bargain.

I listened:

"What?" Koby said as he answered the phone (which by the way, is not the way we taught him to answer, but the way he did none-the-less)

pause.... "Remember what I told you on the bus?"
pause..(his friend is talking) "I lost my privileges"

pause....(his friend must have inquired about the duration of his punishment)


"I'd say like probably two to three weeks."

I had to laugh.

Sometimes the punishments we put on ourselves are far greater than that anyone else could give us.