Hostage negotiations
I don't know about you guys but here at the Sherman household high above the city of Philadelphia, every activity outside the home…with the exception of school, turns into a hostage negotiation and Phil and I agreed early on in our relationship that we don’t negotiate with Terrorists. Some of you will read this and know exactly what I’m talking about and one of you, GP, who I will credit with this way of thinking, hit it on the head when he said, “Individually, they’re great but together, they’re a “terrorist cell.”
Granted we have one but how is it that Saturday morning breakfast quickly turns from delish eggs and bacon to “If you don't put on that gi, the Wii gets it”. What seems like hours but really minutes and many cocktails, I mean, cups of coffee later, this kid who is an angel by all counts turns from “Jacob the Great” to
“Jacob the Terrorist”
and his prized possessions, his toys and video games, the hostages that get thrown (hidden) until he gives up.
The problem is, he has mastered the art of negotiation not sure how or where, I blame the Disney channel of course, but he never gives in. We, on the other hand, always give up and all the hostages get released just because we can’t take it anymore and just want to restore the peace.
Would love to hear your thoughts!
AAhh yes, I think the one thing is consistancy. Say what you mean and mean what you say, it's the only way. Is it the easy way.....no way!!!He knows you're going to give in eventually,so he doesn't give up.Parenting is hard, the hardest job ever! But it's a committment to make sure our children know what we expect of them and why.He has to understand that he has to earn his "hostages" back!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, consistency is key unfortunately he is consistently winning and we're consistently losing (-:
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