Life in general...

Well, last week my kids would not stop fighting with one another. They would fight over toys, so we would take the toys away. Then they would fight over pens and paper, so we took that away. Then they would fight over pillows or blankets on the couch so we made them sit on the floor. Then they would fight over what was on TV so we turned the TV of. Not to be out done they then turned to fighting over whom was looking at whom the wrong way.

Suffice to say we got more than a little bit frustrated at this and I finally grounded them for the weekend. Unfortunately that didn't seem to stop it so we started adding days on to their grounding until now they are grounded solidly through next weekend. Here's the kicker though. Next Saturday they have their belt testing for Karate and one of the tenants over at the dojo is that people are behaving well both at school and at home. So I am torn between allowing them to test for their belts despite the fact that they are grounded, or holding them back for a few more months because of their behavior...

Now I am not a total jerk mind you. I did give them an out. Another item that comes from the dojo is what they call a 'self discipline sheet' which is a piece of paper with three sections on it, each section having ten lines. The idea is that every time the child does something around the house or school without being asked, such as picking up a mess, emptying the trash, and so forth, they can fill out one line with their good deed. I told the kids that for every ten lines they filled out they could discount one day from their grounding, which at the time did NOT include the Saturday of their testing.

Since then they have continued to be at one another's throats and the days have been adding up so that now, as I said previously, they are grounded clean through their belt tests. They have not even tried to fill out their self discipline sheets (One of them has about six lines filled out after eight days and the other is at three or four lines maybe). 

Frankly I am at a loss for what to do. Nothing I say or do seems to make any impression upon them where their fighting is concerned, nor where the self discipline sheets are concerned. The older boy already missed his promotion last round because he didn't fill out any of his homework cards and he didn't seem too upset about the ordeal. I'm not sure that holding them back is something that means enough to them to actually qualify as punitive measures.

I've tried taking the toys out of their rooms, shutting down their computers, grounding them and everything else I can think of and nothing seems to make any sort of a lasting impression on them. I just don't know....

On another note, the press releases about the book should hit the news wires tomorrow, so hopefully we will see some activity from that. Also, progress is still being made on the RPG book, although it is slow due to work. I hope to pitch it to the company this week or next, we'll see how it plays out. I am still trying to work out a signing with the local Barnes & Nobel but I am not convinced it is going to happen considering their policies. We'll see.

Alright, I am going to try and get some work done on one of these stories so I am signing off. I will talk to you all next time so until then, keep fighting the good fight!