Grounded

I am in a rough season in my journey as a parent. It seems everyday is a battle and often wonder where those sweet times of cuddling went.

This week my children were told to clean up the living room as their chore after dinner. After repeated reminders, Phineas and Ferb still won over. Mom stormed in and shut off the TV. In my haste, I promptly declared that they were ground from TV for the rest of the week! In my head I was thinking (There, take that!!!)

Little did I realize what I was really doing to myself.

When we get home from school they are allowed to watch about 30-60 minutes of educational TV, or PBS (after homework, of course!) This gives them time to unwind from the stimulus of school, have a snack, and get ready for dinner. Our normal routine after dinner consists of something we have penned as "Settle-down time." This time is bath, and sitting with mom or dad while we watch TV as a family.

Now, what I thought was appropriate punishment for not obeying ....I grounded my children from TV. What really happened is I grounded my self from any kind of free time to do dishes, cook dinner, or laundry...ummm, is that really free time???

My referee shirt is getting overtime use. And hopefully we are all learning the consequences to our actions!