Sentences: My Parenting Arsenal

IMG_2241

My great granddad used to say, “When you have one boy, you have a whole boy. When you have two boys, you have only half a boy. And when you have three boys, you don’t have any boy at all.”

It took a lot of years for me to understand the math in his wisdom, but I get it now: When you have more than one boy, suddenly you have these extra companions that tag along, and their names are Adventure, Machismo, Silliness, and Ridiculous Choices.

Most often at my house, the third child’s name is Silliness, and he is a formidable foe. I cannot win when Silliness has joined us.

Now, here’s the thing. There’s a difference between Funny and Silly. I love Fun and Funny. I mean, I really love Fun and Funny. I love making memories, I love making each other laugh, and I love making grand life moments with a splash of Fun or Funny. But Silly is just three times bigger than anything else, and there’s no reining him in. He’s loud and controlling, he takes their good ideas and crumbles them into messes they won’t be cleaning up, and worst of all, he leaves no room for my good friend Common Sense. Once Silliness is on board, the only way to find my real—funny, fun, smart, creative—children again is to divide and conquer. Separate them, and now silliness has nobody to hang out with.

This happened last night. We were well past the bedtime window, that narrow time frame when I am dangerously close to turning into a Gremlin after midnight. I could hear them laughing in their bunkbeds—and not just joyful giggling, but actually the out-of-control kind of laughter that I wish I could enjoy but I know it’s only a freight train to something getting broken, likely expensive furniture or the limb of a child. I walked in there, and I handed the instigator a pen and paper.IMG_2241

“Here. Write ‘It is bedtime and I should be sleeping.’”

“How many times do I have to write it?”

“Until you fall asleep.”

This is my favorite Go-To Parenting Strategy: Pencil and Paper.  I have them write for lots of reasons.

“You made your brother late for football practice, and so now you will write this sentence 25 times: I will be on time so the people in my family can be on time.”

“You left your string cheese wrappers on the couch, and so now you will write this sentence 15 times: I will respect my home and take responsibility for my trash.”

“You were dishonest about getting your homework finished, so now you will write this sentence 50 times: I will be honest with my mom and Peter.”
Mom, can I write ‘Dad’ instead?”
And then I act like the efficient disciplinarian, like this doesn’t melt my heart, I say, “Yes, of course.”
And the brother chimes in, “No! He’s cheating!  Peter has 5 letters and Dad only has three letters!  He’s not doing all the work!”
As if that is even remotely the point.

You guys, it worked like a charm. He had something to do with his hands, he had a channel for his thoughts, and he had a repetitive action to complete until sleep found him. This morning, when I went in to wake him, there lay the open notebook, splayed with a pencil across the open spine. He finished seven whole sentences.

He said, “Sorry I didn’t write more, Mom. I was just really, really tired.”

And that, my sweet child, was exactly kind of the exact point exactly.

Tricia Lott Williford

Comments are closed

  1. You are such an excellent mom Tricia dear. I know things will be easier once you have Peter/dad on board the “family train”. Enjoy these special boys while you can — they grow up way too fast. I love the writing idea — I used it a lot when I taught school!

  2. Oh boy, I’ve heard that saying too, and based on my experience with three much younger brothers, it’s so very true! When I was tutoring them, I learned all about the vortex of silliness, which was an all-consuming, deafness-inducing phenomenon. I like your solution for the night-time sillies.

  3. Love this, I used to make my kids write! It was only the younger 3, the one would write a book justifying her actions, the younger two counted every word and hated it! I thought at the time it was very creative, and it was! They got to express their feelings on paper! The girls when they fought, their punishment was to hold hands and look at each other and sometimes kiss. Today they are best friends, something they told me repeatedly that was never going to happen! My boys were the oldest and youngest and 8 years apart so they never fought! Just the girls, sometimes it was daily! Love your stories!

You Are Safe Now

Available April 9, 2024

This Book Is for You

Now Available
A book about falling in love with the Bible

Just. You. Wait.

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Christian Inspiration

You Can Do This

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Women's Issues!

Let's Pretend We're Normal

Now Available
#1 Bestseller on Amazon in Single Parenting

And Life Comes Back

Now Available
#1 in Denver Post: Nonfiction Paperback and Finalist for 2015 Christian Book Award
© 2015-2024 Tricia Lott Williford. All Rights Reserved. Site by Concept To Web.