He Opened His Big Mouth....

So, at 7:25 this morning, I calmly said to my children "The bus will be here in exactly 10 minutes.  If you are not ready and you miss the bus, you will be grounded for a month.  I will not nag you from this moment forward."  I said it.  Plain as day, and they all three heard it.  And yet still played the piano, walked around lackadaisically, took five of those minutes to put toothpaste on their toothbrush, and then scrambled looking for shoes that were not put away, or coats that were not hung up.  And... you guessed it... they missed the bus.  All of them.  So I HAD to follow through. 

Reagan, who is always the first one ready, and has never before missed the bus, was distraught.  She rode to school with her head in her lap. 

"Even ME, Mom?  But I wasn't messing around!"

"Yes, Reagan, even you.  Because after I woke you up, you laid on the couch for 10 minutes instead of getting ready for school."  (She whimpered and put her head back down in her lap).

"Don't be upset!" says I in a chipper voice.  "This is a learning opportunity!  You all are old enough to get yourselves ready without your mother's constant nagging.  You all know how to tell time.  You know what you need to do to get out the door on time.  This is a natural consequence to your own actions."

"But MOM!" Quinn cried.  "The homily at church yesterday was about mercy!  And forgiveness!  About no harsh punishments, but consequences that right the wrong!"

"I forgive you.  But in order to recompense me for the time it takes to drive you to school, and the money it takes in gas to bring you there, and to teach you a valuable lesson.... still grounded for a month."

All three kids thought this was unduly harsh, and said so with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Quinn:  "I will pay you the dollar in gas it takes to drive us to and from school.  And I will do chores for the one hour out of your day it takes to take us into town and back.  Then we'll be even, and the wrong will be righted."

Mom: "Ahhhh, but you won't have learned any other skills, and that won't be enough of a deterrent so that it doesn't happen again!  It won't teach you to manage your time wisely.  And what kind of parent would I be if I didn't follow through on what I said I was going to do?"

"Then how about this," Colby said.  "How about we're not grounded for a length of time, but we have a certain point goal.  If we earn like 500 points by doing chores, we can get UNgrounded!"

THAT, my friend.... is brilliant.  I love it.  And said so.  Of course, as soon as he realized what he'd said, he back pedaled considerably.  "OR go with Quinn paying you a dollar!  Do that one!  Do that one!"

"No, Colby.  I absolutely love your idea, and that's what we're going to do.  You will be grounded only as long as it takes you to earn 500 points a piece.  I will make your charts, and they'll be ready for you when you get home.  Then YOU are in control of your own destiny, and YOU can make amends without Mom having to monitor and nag.  Clear expectations, clear ending.  Plus, you're learning valuable skills, and you all are going to have to help out when I'm in isolation anyway.  So that's it!"

He regretted it as soon as he said it, but it was so smart, and such a great idea... we're going to go with it.  This is what I came up with, while the kids were at school: