Punishment(s)

Well, so far, here's what I've come up with in the way of punishment for Monday's escapade. The first night, she was allowed no TV, no movies, and no bedtime stories. Yesterday, I made her write a letter of apology to Bill and Karen, and she personally gave it to them at church tonight. The message in the letter was all hers; I told her how to spell the words when she didn't know, but it says exactly what she wanted it to say. (I included larger sized images so you could read her writing, but apparently they're too big because the right edge is being cut off. Oh well, you get the idea ...)

Her remaining punishments are as follows:

• No movies for a week (she loves movies and watches one a day);
• No playdates with friends through the end of Feb. The only time she'll see her friends is at school or church;
• And since she can't be trusted to make good decisions when she's with certain friends, when March rolls around and she is allowed to have playdates again, she and her friend will have to play under direct supervision of an adult -- no going upstairs or into another room and playing alone.

I'm still working on a way to deal with the financial implications of the situation. Several versions of the same concept have been suggested -- all involve assigning a $$ value to various chores and requiring her to earn the $250 back, either through tangible money going into a jar or completing tasks that get noted on a poster until she reaches a certain point. So something along these lines will probably also be happening ...

Meanwhile, tomorrow Karen's contractor guy is coming to tear out most of their kitchen ceiling, a state in which the kitchen will remain for several days while the insides dry out. The good news is that the bathroom tile doesn't have to be torn out. For now.

Parenting is such a joy.