Daddy Discipline

As most of you know I stay at home with the girls, making me the primary disciplinary. When you are the person who always doles out the punishments, who your kids see get angry on a daily, or some days, hourly basis, they start to not take you so seriously anymore. However, the one who isn't around all that often, the one who gets the red carpet rolled out when he comes home from work, when HE gets mad or hands out punishment, the earth stops spinning on it's axis. Sometimes this is helpful, sometimes it's just annoying. I mean he does the same thing I do and they'll respond more quickly to him. This was the case one morning last week.

We have a big potted plant in our bedroom. You know the kind, where the dirt is easily accessible for little hands to dig in. Sonya and Lana never bothered with it, but Georgia seems to be fascinated. One day a few weeks ago I was showering and she and Lana were in my room watching Curious George. Well, Lana was watching it anyway. G was busy taking handfuls of dirt from the plan and dropping them all over my room. I do mean all over. I found the piles on the floor, the nightstand, the entertainment unit, my aerobic step, anywhere she felt like it. I discovered it when I got out of the shower and spent a good fifteen minutes searching for dirt piles and vacuuming them up. So now I keep a more watchful eye on her when she's in our room, to make sure she doesn't go for the plant. Most of the time she'll leave it alone, but sometimes it just calls out to her.

One morning last week Andy was getting ready for work and I was making our bed. Sonya was off at school, and GG and Lana were in our room playing. The plant must have been too much to resist that day, because I watched as Georgia waddled over to it and started to dig her hands in the soil. As she did, she turned to look at me with a smile on her face that said, "look what I'm dooooiinnnggg."

"Nooooo Georgia. Don't do that," I said to her. She continued to dig, all the while with the shit eating grin on her face and staring directly at me.

"Georgia! NO!" I said more forceful this time.

At this point, Andy came out of the bathroom to see what was going on. Georgia had grabbed a handful of dirt and was starting to take steps away from the plant. Andy just looked at her disapprovingly and she stopped in her tracks. She looked at him with the same smile and he said to her gently, but forcefully,

"No Georgia. Go put that back."

She stood there for about five seconds, looked over at me, looked at Andy, and looked at the dirt in her hands. Then she turned around waddled back over to the plant, dropped the dirt back in, brushed her hands off, and ran out of the room.

"Good girl Georgia!!" Andy and I both cheered.

Then I looked over at him,

"Damn you!" I said.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Never mind," I replied annoyed and went back to my bed making.

So yeah, they don't always want to listen to me, but most of the time, not ALL, but most, they will do what HE says. I admit, I will work this to my advantage if I'm having a particularly hard time with them listening by throwing out a,

"Wait until your father gets home!"

Because, let's be honest, what mom hasn't used that line a time or two?