scottsweep should keep that tongue in check, if it means he will soon be a mute.

Hoo boy. Good luck with that one.

all the other parents want to say something too, but of course no one does. When did it become such a crime to help a struggling parent out?

you need to be very, very careful in how you deliver that news

had to tell Mr. Husband he was banned from gymnastics for that exact reason.

yeah, I thought about friendly appropriate delivery as a distraction from antics. Should get Jen to do it she has double-pregnancy-privilege

agrees Jen would make an excellent choice as the bearer of much needed news

she wouldn't even have to be tactful - "Hey lady when you threaten child with leaving 12 times and don't follow through she will never..."

Oye. That's a poor choice of threats, and not following through is a total FAIL.

to go straight for the jugular and threatens to take away a favorite doll. Very effective, especially since I really will do it.

kids aren't stupid and they know when the parent is.

everytime she said "I'm not joking" or "I mean it this time" I wanted a chorus to jump up and sing "Clearly you are joking and mean nothing"

CarolineFB if I can recognize it, then clearly any three year old should have no problem

"and your kid is smarter than you are" - don't forget that part.

A colleague of mine has a good rule with his kids. They can try anything affordable, but they have to follow through.

They have to follow through for however long a term is (semester, season, year, etc)

I keep telling my daughter that anything less than a Broadway career will be a disappointment and a poor investment.

so many parents are lazy. Get up and do it and you'll only have to do it once.

I agree. I always hate getting to 3 cause it means work and tears, but I know it will pay dividends later.

exactly.

very glad that I rarely get to three. It has happened, but not often.

my daughter was mildly influenced by the little miscreant until Nonni got to 3 and they went home. She's been and angel at dance ever since.

I never counted. When I said now, I meant now, not in three. Wow, I must have been mean.

not a fan of the counting, but sometimes it's necessary. Like when you have to get off the Bulldog before you stop jumping on the Bulldog

heeh

CarolineFB clearly you've done something right, so I may have to try not counting.

like you said earlier scottsweep, the extra work then would pay off eventually.

my parents normally didn't count. They had facial expressions. My mom had her eyebrows and the glare. And we knew she meant business

that glare. No idea where it came from, but I can totally stare down the kid. It's fun.

yeah, my mom thought the same thing when I was a kid.

I'm working on it, not intentionally, but when J is doing something wrong she'll look to see if I'm looking and if I am she stops.

tries not to use it too much. I fear it's one of those things that loses power if you use it too often.

good luck scottsweep