milking the milk

Adam and I are hoping to raise well-disciplined kids. We figure this includes teaching obedience to rules, and then also, when we can, teaching the reasons behind the rules.

So when Brie developed a bad habit of using her milk bottle to paint on our hardwood floors, we came up with an idea. Along with telling her "no", slapping her hand and taking away the bottle, we've been taking her to our broom closet, picking out a rag, walking back to all the milk drops, and showing her how to wipe them up. We were hoping this would teach her to obey us, as well as teaching her that you have to clean up messes that you make.

Well, one day, early in the morning, while I was still in the other rooms, Adam was out in the kitchen, putting his lunch in his backpack. While doing this, he noticed that Brigid was taking her morning bottle of milk, and painting a milk picture on the floor. He sighed, and decided to finish shoving the last few things in his pack before he did anything about it.

Then, to his amazement, our daughter stood up, walked over to the drawer where we keep her bibs, got out a bib, and walked back to her milk spill, and proceeded to wipe it up.

!!!

What do you say to that? "Well, I guess she learned SOMETHING . . ." But we sure didn't mean for her to learn that it was okay to do as long as she cleaned it up! Sigh . . .


I would also like to add that now wiping up the floor is one of Brigid's favorite games. She LOVES to grab a dishrag and wipe it all over the floor, whether there's spilled milk or not. One can only hope this will last into her teen years. :)


-Jess