Things in my life are a bit overwhelming right now. I've bitten off more than I can chew at school. The classes are difficult and the homework load is HUGE. I feel like all I'm ever doing is homework. My kids feel it, too. I spend most of the time at the kitchen table with my books all around me. I am learning so much though, and I do like my classes.
This morning I had to ground our exchange student. Gloria is a really sweet girl, but she really doesn't pay attention to the rules unless I'm hovering over her. She won't do chores until I tell her to even though she knows they have to be done every day. Then she gets mad at Beth and Cass for choosing the easier chores. I specifically don't assign each child specific chores and just have a list of things that need to be done to encourage them to jump on them right away. Whoever starts doing chores first, gets the easier chores.
Another rule she chooses to ignore unless I'm hovering is getting off of her cell phone at night. No kidding, this girl is on her cell phone every moment that she isn't eating or in class. She walks around between classes at school on her phone and finds an outlet to plug her phone in at lunch time, so she can be on it during the lunch period. When she gets home, she is laying on the couch on her phone the whole time unless she's doing homework. I have to take the phone away from her at dinner time, so she won't be on it when eating. On weekends, all three girls know they have to be off their phones by 10:00pm. After a couple of warnings, last night, she was on her phone until 10:30pm. This morning, I told her she was grounded from the phone. She looked very scared when she asked, "all day?" I answered, "no, all week" then put my hand out for the phone. She wasn't happy when I took it from her, but she knew the rules. I'm wondering if I didn't ground her for too long. After all, this is her first grounding even though she has been warned. Maybe I should just ground her for three days then the rest of the week require her to give me her phone when I go to bed each night, so she isn't tempted to be on it. I don't know. What do you think?
Other than a couple of bumps, the experience of having Gloria here has been great. She fits into the family well and gets along with Beth and Cassidy Rose. She is extremely boy crazy, which is annoying, but I just try to ignore that. She almost didn't want to go on our road trip yesterday when I told her that it was very unlikely she'd see any cute boys or anyone at all. Everything she does is with the purpose of coming into contact with cute boys. I'm thankful that Beth and Cass have interests other than boys. I don't think I could handle having three boy crazy girls under my roof.
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4 comments:
"All day?" lol, that's funny. How did her family discipline her? She does appear to be really sweet in the photos, and the girls looked like they had fun on your trip. I would agree with letting her have the phone in a few days and then relieving her of it in the evening. It could be a lesson in grace with a warning that next time it really will be a week.
As far as I know, she didn't have a whole lot of rules. She is an only child, and she spent a lot of time alone at home because her dad is a salesperson who travels a lot, and her mom owns a linguistic school. She basically spent her time watching television, on her phone, and on the internet. She didn't have any kind of limits placed on things like that.
It sounds like you're doing a great job with her. I think that modifying the grounding is a good idea, but then again I'm not a parent.
I am so glad you're enjoying your classes even though it's rough. Just remember the semester is only so long and then you can have a lighter load next time to make up for it. You WILL make it through.
You're a good student and will get through it all.
You could extend her the grace of an altered punishment with the understanding that it is turned in at 10 and chores come before the phones. Otherwise, GONE for a week!
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