Word problems

As is often the case with young siblings who spend a lot of time in the car and at home with each other, the girls tend to get in plenty of verbal arguments these days. And, there are a few particularly mean and unkind words we would like them to stop saying altogether. These are phrases like, “I hate ____,” or, “She won’t let me have the purple marker. She’s stupid!” One would hope their children would just instinctively know that these phrases are inappropriate, but that is not the case around here. And, honestly, we have not modeled perfect behavior and/or language ourselves.

We’ve gone back and forth between a punishment or a reward system for awhile now with issues like this one. For some reason, the older two girls respond better to rewards. The youngest, though, really responds to neither. Last week she was home alone with just me while the other two were at school when she said one of the forbidden words.

Me:  What happens when you say that word?

Her {with absolutely no hesitation}: My momma will tie me up, throw me in the dungeon, and lock me there.

The correct answer would have been, “I have to go to time-out.” 

I’m convinced she says ludicrous things of this nature just to throw me for a loop and distract me from the mission I was on which was reinforcing a lesson… not trying to figure out when or where she’s heard about people being tied up and locked in dungeons. 

 And, speaking of people being tied or tying the knot… Marriage has been on her mind a lot lately, too. All three girls like to look at pictures on our walls and ask hundreds of questions about our wedding. So, this morning the Preschooler was staring at a few in our bedroom and asked:

“Were you the bride or the broom?”

I told her I was the bride, which seems like the far better thing to be in this case.

Then she turned very serious and said she was worried because she “didn’t know who her broom would be.”

I assured her she’s still very young to worry about that. Some day her broom will come. 

But in all seriousness, this conversation and their collective interest in weddings reminds me that it is never too early to be praying for their brooms!