Girl Power

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It starts early... the pressure to be popular.  Lately, that's been the theme around my house.

I cut my hair off shorter than my son would like and the response is: "Mom, you know I love you the most - but you've lost some popularity points with me until you grow that back."

And today when I had to discipline him - I heard it again.

Here's what I keep telling myself. I'm not trying to be his friend, like some of the parents in today's world.  You see I care about how my son turns out and if that means being the bad guy - then so be it.

Today we worked on respect for his parents.  Lately, he's had a smart mouth on him which needs to be handled before he turns into one of those Disney teen characters on TV (which is why we don't watch those shows).

After he'd been banned in his room for a short period and we'd had our talk about why he was punished, he crawled onto my back and hugged neck from behind.  He cuddled ever so sweetly and said, "You know you just lost about ten popularity points with me."

"Really?  Well, guess what?"  I asked.  "I really don't care.  Being popular with you isn't my goal.  Teaching you some manners and respect is.  So popular or not - if it happens again... you'll be punished."

"Well, then I'm going to cuddle my dog!"  He laughed and let go of my neck to wrap his arms around our little puppy, who had curled up behind me.

In an instant, our puppy let out a huge growl as if she was about to attack.  Keep in mind this is a very docile dog, who never gets aggressive.

My son's eyes grew wide and backed up.  He very quickly replied, "Well Jewel... you just lost about fifty popularity points with me!"

All I could do is laugh. Girl power! It was almost as if she could understand our conversation and that was her way to back me up.

I grabbed my son and hugged him.  And it was nice to end it with a little laughter.

Comments

Tara R. said…
Good for you! Too many parents try to be their kids' friend and not the parent. In the long term, that does the child more harm than good.

Where did your son get the 'popularity points' thing? That's is kinda funny.
7:44 PM
OkiJenninGA said…
How super sweet of a post! You just gained 20 points w/ me ;-) Next time he's in trouble maybe you could try the same on him...let him know that he just lost popularity points with you and see if that helps with the thought process.
4:12 AM
Kimberly McKay said…
I have no idea where he got it. It wasn't from school as he's just started saying it...and he's not been under the scrutiny of his peers. It's funny...

I think pulling the reverse will be even funnier....telling him how he's lost popularity points with me when he's acted out.

I think my main question is -- how many points do I start with?? LOL.
9:47 AM
Yvette said…
too many parents want to be their childs friend and try to be cool. Good for you, I can see that you son will be a very well rounded young man!
11:49 AM
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