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One of the things you pick up over time is the simple truth that consequences should relate to action. Follow me below the dingledoodlesquiggliedividerthingie fold...
So a couple of weeks ago, the K's were being miserable with each other. Sniping, griping, little jabs, the whole sibling dynamic all wrapped up into one afternoon inside (it may have been raining, or whatnot, I don't remember but I know we were all stuck inside). Mr. Brillig and I had had enough, but we needed a combination distraction/consequence.
In one of those exquisitely satisfying parental moments so seldom attained, I had a flash of inspiration:
In my best Stern Parent Voice, I told the kids to stop it now, and sit there quietly. I asked Mr. Brillig to lay a sheet on the floor. All three of them looked at me as I disappeared upstairs...
Reappearing with this:
The kids stared. Mr. Brillig stared. I explained:
You're both doing something stupid and mindless. Utterly ridiculous, the sniping and constant arguing. If you're going to do something ridiculous and mindless, it will be a ridiculous mindless thing of MY choosing!
I dumped it out onto the sheet, and laid out four plastic containers, telling them I wanted the coins sorted. Oh, and if I heard a SINGLE grumble, snipe, or argument, I'd dump them out and they could start over. This is a recreation of what that pile looked like:
(note the coins laid out for scale at bottom of pile)
They almost grumped, once. Once. It took them an hour and a half, and by the end they had made a game of it and were laughing with each other. I left the sorted containers on the table for a bit, then dumped them back in, prompting the kids to complain that all that work had been for nothing. I replied that it stopped them arguing, and now was available for Next Time.
I'm thinking that for the fall, raking leaves from one side of the lawn to the other sounds good. Thoughts and other suggestions?
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Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From citisven:
This is a most delightful comment by antirove in my diary Where the Streets Have No Lanes (OccupyStreet) last night about Sunday Streets, a street party that closed down 20 city blocks in my SF neighborhood. The cover image I had used for the piece was of my friend's daughter frolicking in a sea of bubbles blown from a bubble machine attached to a very bubbly woman's bike
From Ed Tracey:
In the diary by Fokozatos siker about his amazement that - at an all-boys' school, in the heart of Texas - a gay couple is treated no differently than anyone else, entlord goes on to say that - from child-raising experience - all too often, "the brouhaha is either a result of parents butting in where they are really unwelcome .. or else kids acting as proxies for their parents".
From Yours Truly, brillig:
Regarding Cain's plan: zenbassoon thinks wishfully. In their reply, doesnotworkorplaywellwithothers probably has it right.
ontheleftcoast gets a nom for use of my favorite Rush quote. (Umm.. which Rush did you think I was talking about?!!)
In her diary The Key To Rainforest Destruction and Child Slavery Might Be In Your Pantry, Jill Richardson explains a choice and reminds us not everything is an easy black and white.
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Top Mojo for yesterday, 10/24/2011, minus first comments/tip jars. Thank you to mik for the mojo magic!
1) Yes, it's called OperationDarknet by Lisa Lockwood — 287
2) And there are 10,000 bridges like it around by ontheleftcoast — 145
3) Well, the incredible happens by Brit — 121
4) Anons have released by Lisa Lockwood — 119
5) Way to go Albany! by Shockwave — 114
6) This really shows you the root problem by Rich in PA — 109
7) Remember when DFHs did this at a Tea Party rally? by Trix — 97
8) Considering the rising shrill by Puddytat — 88
9) They are afraid of sunlight. by stcroix cheesehead — 87
10) Hehehe by blue aardvark — 85
11) The ranks of the military and veterans may by judyms9 — 85
12) brilliant insight here... by citizendane — 83
13) Thank you and Amen to that! by G2geek — 81
14) Some write hate mail to DKos others... by Shockwave — 79
15) Apple fell pretty far from tree by RFK Lives — 78
16) Thank you for posting this Lisa. by Morgan Sandlin — 77
17) stochastic terrorism. by G2geek — 77
18) Well damn...need to go sign up at OccupyArmy by SallyCat — 75
19) Yup, and as I've said, while the RW media shrieks by MinistryOfTruth — 74
20) Why don't you post this instead? by shantysue — 65
21) Cuomo's 5% shave off the state budget by Clarknt67 — 64
22) Happy Monday by Debbie in ME — 64
23) We were at Occupy Albany this evening. by SottoVoce — 63
24) The amount of embarrassment they receive by blue aardvark — 63
25) I so enjoy your diaries Brit ... by maggiejean — 63
26) I had the same experience by docterry — 61
27) happee moondai by Debbie in ME — 60
28) James, your statement could apply to anyone or by Morgan Sandlin — 59
29) Fix These Bridges, Boehner! by jpmassar — 58
30) I just can't help thinking by grannycarol — 58