Harsh but educational

[suityou01]

Been having some trouble with SY03. Stropping off, being mouthy, ignoring what he is told, being sullen. So this morning when he stood on the smallest of our "nest of tables" to try and reach something, broke it, he hid it back in the nest of tables.

SY04 relished in coming to tell us what SY03 had done, being the typical pesky little brother.

I went to investigate and sure enough the table was busted beyond economical repair. SY02 and I discussed what to do, and I had an idea.

SY03 and I dismantled the table, examined the broken pieces, drew a diagram with measurements of the broken side. Then we went to B&Q with out cutting list and HE asked (very shyly) if the nice man at the timber saw could cut some pieces of wood to match our specification. I explained what we were doing, and why. Bless him he cut all the pieces and only charged SY03 50p.

We came home, reclaimed the dowels from the broken piece of furniture and drilled dowel holes in the new pieces. Bit of wood glue and the table is repaired.

Granted I am bloody awful at carpentry and the end result is far from pleasing, but SY03 will not stand on a table and break it again. Plus he understood the lengths we had to go to, for a moment of bad judgement. He also learned a lot about measuring, marking and drilling.

And in the very end he was sorry for what he had done, but also proud of what we had achieved, and for the first time experienced that "standing back and looking at what we had achieved" experience.

So, should I have just bought a new table and banned him from watching telly? I feel contented this was a pretty nifty piece of parenting.

[Platypus]

Been having some trouble with SY03. Stropping off, being mouthy, ignoring what he is told, being sullen. So this morning when he stood on the smallest of our "nest of tables" to try and reach something, broke it, he hid it back in the nest of tables.

SY04 relished in coming to tell us what SY03 had done, being the typical pesky little brother.

I went to investigate and sure enough the table was busted beyond economical repair. SY02 and I discussed what to do, and I had an idea.

SY03 and I dismantled the table, examined the broken pieces, drew a diagram with measurements of the broken side. Then we went to B&Q with out cutting list and HE asked (very shyly) if the nice man at the timber saw could cut some pieces of wood to match our specification. I explained what we were doing, and why. Bless him he cut all the pieces and only charged SY03 50p.

We came home, reclaimed the dowels from the broken piece of furniture and drilled dowel holes in the new pieces. Bit of wood glue and the table is repaired.

Granted I am bloody awful at carpentry and the end result is far from pleasing, but SY03 will not stand on a table and break it again. Plus he understood the lengths we had to go to, for a moment of bad judgement. He also learned a lot about measuring, marking and drilling.

And in the very end he was sorry for what he had done, but also proud of what we had achieved, and for the first time experienced that "standing back and looking at what we had achieved" experience.

So, should I have just bought a new table and banned him from watching telly? I feel contented this was a pretty nifty piece of parenting.

Don't your family find your smugness irritating?

[Spacecadet]

I think you mean to post this in a different forum
mumsnet is here

[RichardCranium]

It'll certainly have taught him some lessons, even if only "Bugger going through THAT again, I'm never going to break ANYTHING. EVER."

How old is SY03?


Edit: Wouldn't it have been quicker and easier to buy a length of 3x2, drive some nails through the end and give him a damn good hiding? It's how me built an Empire don't ya know?

[MarillionFan]

Right. You've taught him the following lessons

1) Daddy is a pushover who didn't beat me within an inch of my life for lying, covering it up and being rude. I now own Daddy.
2) We have cheap furniture, probably bought from Tesco direct or Ikea and it will splinter like balsa wood if I so much as look at it in the wrong way. My friends will laugh at me if they come around and possibly daddy is not doing well in his job. I mean he sits on the computer all of the time since he got banned for the pub for crying. I am ashamed.
3) I can repair our cheap furniture by buying cheap wood from B&Q. I mean B&Q. WTF shops at B&Q. I hope nobody saw me.
4) This will scar me for ever and I may grow up to be a serial killer. If only I knew someone with a tat shop who could have sold daddy some proper solid hardwood tables that franky if there was a nuclear war I could hide under and survive a 50 megaton exposion at the bottom of the drive. I am going to die. Boo hoo hoo.

hth

MF

[suityou01]

Don't your family find your smugness irritating?

I'm sure they see me for the superior and praiseworthy being I am just like the rest of CUK.

[suityou01]

Right. You've taught him the following lessons

1) Daddy is a pushover who didn't beat me within an inch of my life for lying, covering it up and being rude. I now own Daddy.
2) We have cheap furniture, probably bought from Tesco direct or Ikea and it will splinter like balsa wood if I so much as look at it in the wrong way. My friends will laugh at me if they come around and possibly daddy is not doing well in his job. I mean he sits on the computer all of the time since he got banned for the pub for crying. I am ashamed.
3) I can repair our cheap furniture by buying cheap wood from B&Q. I mean B&Q. WTF shops at B&Q. I hope nobody saw me.
4) This will scar me for ever and I may grow up to be a serial killer. If only I knew someone with a tat shop who could have sold daddy some proper solid hardwood tables that franky if there was a nuclear war I could hide under and survive a 50 megaton exposion at the bottom of the drive. I am going to die. Boo hoo hoo.

hth

MF

He's 6 and a half so item 1 is not going to happen.
On point 2, yes to cheap furniture, we have 3 boys under the age of 7 who tear round the place like a hurricane. I'll wait until they fook off before investing in decent quality stuff.
On point 3, I could have amplified the effect by buying him some trainers from the market (Gola, Hi-Tech etc) and then dragging him round B&Q.
On point 4, See point 2. Plus failing to run a TAT shop and be profitable is nothing to crow about you abject failure you.

Whew good fun this.

Post back your inner most feelings when you recover.

[MarillionFan]

He's 6 and a half so item 1 is not going to happen.
On point 2, yes to cheap furniture, we have 3 boys under the age of 7 who tear round the place like a hurricane. I'll wait until they fook off before investing in decent quality stuff.
On point 3, I could have amplified the effect by buying him some trainers from the market (Gola, Hi-Tech etc) and then dragging him round B&Q.
On point 4, See point 2. Plus failing to run a TAT shop and be profitable is nothing to crow about you abject failure you.

Whew good fun this.

Post back your inner most feelings when you recover.

You want a nest of tables then? Fell off the back of a lorry? Still in one piece!

RE : Point 1. Wait till he's eight!.

[EternalOptimist]

Sorry to be harsh SY, but this was a classic piece of bad parenting.
The first kid should learn plumbing, second should be vehicle maintenance, followed by bricklaying, the law, accountancy, animal husbandry then martial arts. To teach carpentry and furniture design, out of sequence is just sad. very sad.

[suityou01]

You want a nest of tables then? Fell off the back of a lorry? Still in one piece!

RE : Point 1. Wait till he's eight!.

Obedient and well behaved children is my major desire.