Teaching Retribution ~ SuperMom(ish) Monday

Walking down the path towards SuperMom is much like following the yellow brick road to the land of Oz.  It's an amazing journey filled with twists, turns and lessons but in all reality Oz doesn't exist.  SuperMom's however, do.  We are all SuperMom's already but we tend to listen to that voice that tells us we aren't good enough so we keep trying.  Then your kid screws up and we become one of the characters of Oz...the wicked witch, the cowardly lion, or the brainless scarecrow.  Feel free to tell me which one I became.

So here is the story in a nutshell...

My oldest started middle school this year and is in the 6th grade.  He is a great kid, wonderful grades, responsible, outgoing, participates in wrestling & track and loves to read.  He's even a Boy Scout.  

That being said he and a group of his good wrestling friends that he attends church with thought it was totally awesome to bust into the lunch boxes that the girls basketball team would leave sitting outside the gym full of their snacks to eat, and these boys would eat their delicious tempting snacks themselves.  Until they were caught.  Otherwise they'd all still be going to town on any unattended edible food.

I know.  It is kind of hilarious.  But you can't let them see you laugh!  Unless you've taken on the roll of Glenda the Good Witch and still see your big boy as a Lolly-Pop Kid in which he will never do anything wrong.  Glenda the Good Witch, I will never be.  Sorry buddy.

I decided to teach him a lesson about retribution aka eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

  This kind of punishment is not for everyone and that's ok.  But for my boy, it was fitting.  Some 'experts' equate it to shaming but I see it as facing consequences for his actions.  Even if he had a cell phone and computer to take away (which he doesn't) he wouldn't have learned the same lesson.  He wouldn't of had to face the girls who he stole from, verbally apologized, and then paid back what he had taken.

The girls were wonderful and in some kinda twisted middle-school karma he probably turned out to be the sweet boy that the girls will love.  But I think he learned his lesson and he knows his Mom will punish him in a flying monkey-style circus show so hopefully he'll think twice ten times before doing something so ridiculous.  

  

I admit I did get some of this idea from the site Dog Shaming.  It. Is. Hysterical.  And sometimes SuperMom's, all we need after a long day, is a good laugh.  To hug our kiddo's and love them through life with all it's twists, turns and lessons.  And to remind ourselves that we ARE SuperMom's even when we are living in the middle of Oz.

Dog Shaming

Feel free to weigh in SuperMoms.  Would you ever consider a punishment like this?  Do you have any unconventional ways you teach lessons?