Sunday, March 9, 2014

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

I talked about my child and lying lately.  Oh, it isn't me lying.  It is K.

Hubs asked her to clean her bedroom yesterday.  I wasn't aware and since the cat roams upstairs, she had her door shut.  He came home, checked the room and informed her that she hadn't cleaned.  "I did a little."  Perhaps she did, but she didn't get it done as asked.  Okay, no TV until it is complete.

Fast forward to today.  We all went to church.  K and I stayed behind for the all-you-can-eat taco bar put on by the youth as a fundraiser.  (I'm still full.)  We got home and K was to get to cleaning her room.  She piddled around in there for a few and announced that she was done.  Hubs informed her otherwise.  Rinse and repeat a few times.  Finally when the room was possibly doable, Hubs asked about sweeping.

"I did sweep."

"Really?"

"Yes."

I'm sitting and taking the conversation in.

"But I didn't hear the sweeper."

"Oh, I swept with my hands."

"No, K.  You have to sweep with the sweeper."

10 minutes goes by.  She announces that she was done.

"You swept with the sweeper?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Funny, because I didn't hear it."

"Oh, I, um, swept with the little sweeper."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"This sweeper?"

"Yes!"

I flick the switch and it is dead.  It is not working.  It is cordless and dead, dead.  I had been sitting in the living room folding laundry and knew she hadn't taken it anyhow.

"Oh, well, maybe. I forget."

Really?

I gave her 100 times to write.  She lied repeatedly and each time got another sentence.
"When I lie, I know it is wrong.  Lying gives me a double punishment.  I know when I am lying and God does, too."
She has given us a hard time.  She has had a fit.  She even lied again about leaving her room and going to complain to her dad about the writing.  She lied when I asked if she left her room.  "No."  "Really, but I heard you."

So for now, she is writing 130 times.  She keeps begging for us to go on a walk.  We would go, but since she's only on 40 and it has been hours, I don't see it happening for a long time.

Wish me well.  It's wearing both of us out.  Even Hubs said to me that he feels bad because it seems like she is always punished.  We ask simple things of her.  We ask her to be honest, to do her homework and turn it in when due, to keep a clean room and to do a few chores around the house.  We don't run a child work camp and it isn't like the child can't breathe right.  Something has to break, right?

3 comments:

Rach said...

You know, I really HATE parenting. Having a child, being a mom, loving my girls? LOVE that. The parenting bit really SUCKS. Big time. :o(

I'm so sorry.

She has a hard noggin, that kiddo of yours. You're not unreasonable. You're parenting, and doing it right.

Hang in there.

ChupieandJ'smama (Janeen) said...

I'm having the same problem over here. Hugs and hang in there!!

Heidi said...

If you don't feel like the "meanest mom EVER in life!", you're doing it wrong! :)
Hang in there, this is always a tough one.