Adventures in Scouting

Julia is officially a Girl Scout. Pledged and pinned. She has grown in to such a remarkable young girl and I am so very proud of all that she has accomplished in her five and half years here on earth. I look forward to her random insights, tenacity, questions of the day, impromptu artwork and mother hen tendencies. Even when she frequently pushes the envelope to see how far she can get.

Enough time has lapsed where I can laugh about the story I'm about to share rather than bow my head in embarrassment. A few weeks after school started, I get a call mid morning from Mrs. Hathaway, Julia's teacher. She did not sound pleased and wanted my help in addressing Julia's "inappropriate behavior." I was informed that my first born had for several days been acting in a manner that was not in line with Catholic school behavior. She "blatantly does the opposite of what she is asked even though she knows what is right. And this morning reached the limit."

Dear Lord, what did she do??!!!

During one of the teaching centers, Mrs. Hathaway asked the students who did a good job to stand up and pat themselves on the back. What did Julia do? She stood up and gave herself a big ole spank on the bee-hind. At the time I was mortified. And livid. Mostly mortified. This is the flip side of having a uterus--the guilt and self-condemnation that accompanies motherhood. I spoke with Julia on the phone and mapped out what exactly was waiting for her after school. On the way home we did not speak and directed Julia to go straight to the kitchen table when we arrived home. No TV, no computer. I sat down across from her and looked at her with my steeliest face and told her that "I will not get a call from the teacher about her behavior EVER AGAIN." Then I sent her to her room until dinner time. I think I found a new discipline method that works for the Jujube. Solitary confinement. No more yelling (well, that's not true), spanking, taking away toys, restriction or time out.

I'm positive that will not be the LAST call from the school, but it sure was a FIRST for this mom. Jujube has many, many skills. One being the aforementioned envelope pushing. She is always thinking ahead to see how far she can get.