Cadee McArgue-butt

Sweet, loving little Cadee Grace is so much like her father, it kills me. She is the most logical, argumentative, rationalizing, persistent child on the face of the planet. Of this, I am convinced. Not saying that this doesn't come in handy at times. Like when a fight is happening between her and her sister, she is very easy to talk to and explain why it is not ok to do that or to say that. (Unlike Lili, who would rather get physical or just pout and cry. There is NO reasoning with that girl!) Cadee just *gets* things. HOWEVER, if she gets an idea in her head, you will not change or mold that idea. You must give her the top 28 reasons why your idea is better than hers, and then she will consider the options. (JUST LIKE HER FATHER.) I do appreciate this about her. I think it will help her very much in years to come (I know my Hubby turned out very well). However, disobedience is "not doing as you are told". And she hardly ever does as she is told until the 4th or 5th time of being asked. And even then, 80% of the time, it is met with an argument. So, her daddy and I came up with a solution.
Cadee loves playing outside with all of the neighbor kids! When it is nice out, I barely see her in the afternoons. Unless it's for the 2 minutes it takes her to potty-dance down the hallway to the bathroom. And that is totally fine! I love that she has friends and is having fun outside! However, I do believe that these "older kids" (2nd and 5th graders) do influence her attitude. The grumbling when asked to do something, the not listening, the attitude when it isn't what she had in mind. So, for everytime she argues with me to do something, to get something or to go somewhere, she loses 5 minutes of outside play. Meaning, when she steps off the bus, or this summer, when she asks to go outside, she will be going to my bed or hers for 5 minutes. Now, this can certainly add up! Depending on how far she wants to push it...
Yesterday morning, I explained to her what her punishment would be. I made sure she understood it through and through. And then I spent the rest of the day pointing out things that would warrant said punishment. "Cadee, will you please put your shoes away?" "Ughhhhhh... M-ahhh-m. Do I have to right now?" "There. That's an example of grumbling instead of obeying." *lightbulb*
Today, this is in full effect. And she has not grumbled once when asked to do something. She has not argued with me (YET) when asked to get ready for school. IN FACT! She woke up and got dressed, brushed her hair and was all ready for school- all on her own- with an hour to spare to watch cartoons. It was AMAZING!!! And I hope it continues!
We are not amazing parents, by any means! But, we feel that this was worth sharing. We had to find a punishment suitable for the "crime". And I think this works in our favor 2 ways- it takes something that she loves and shows her that she can lose it by the way she acts. And, I think she learns some of this attitude and grumbling from the neighbor kids, so this gets her away from them and makes her think about it more when she's with them (hopefully). I don't like doting on myself, but my mom told me I should post this on my blog. And- You don't argue with Mom!