Please... enlighten me
Sep. 16th, 2011 05:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyWhat part of "Oh, could you guys clean up this small-ish spot on the floor that you totally left there when running an illicit experiment with my turmeric" translates to "By all means, coat the floor with a gray layer of Ajax and dirty water and then track it up and down the house"?
Also, how long can the human body sustain a scream before injuring the vocal cords?
Also, how long can the human body sustain a scream before injuring the vocal cords?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-09-08 09:42 pm (UTC)Heh, could be worse: could be PAINT. My daughter and her partner-in-crime were about the same age as your girlies, when they discovered an entire unattended GALLON of it. Oh. My. God.
The human body can't sustain a scream long enough to injure the vocal cords, because it runs out of air. You'd have to take more breaths and keep on screaming, which doesn't really count as 'sustaining'. If one is accustomed to keening - which is not a good thing to have to get accustomed to, but hey, shit happens - one can continue making an extremely loud and emphatic Unhappy Noise for a very long time without straining one's vocal cords. I don't know if there's a world record for that, but I suppose one could look it up.
The natural consequence of Making A Terrible Mess For No Good Reason is to have to clean up said terrible mess while listening to a long Explanation of the unwisdom of bringing such consequences upon oneself, and the far worse consequences that will ensue if the lesson isn't learned properly on this occasion. In order to make such a detailed explanation, one needs to save one's vocal cords, because it generally takes at least as long as the cleaning.
*hugs you* Hang in there, dearheart; someday you'll be laughing about this - probably the day their own wretched little bratlings pull the same stunt on them. Meanwhile, if they've entered the Potion-Maker Phase, the only solution I know of is to lock up all the toxic and flammable potential potion-ingredients. It's not difficult to install a hasp and lock on a closet or cabinet door, and it will ensure that Tragedy does not occur. Trusting to "But I told them...!" is tempting fate, and a lot of kids have died or been terribly injured because their grown-ups stupidly did so.
Obviously, it's not possible to lock up every potential potion-ingredient in the house, so the other half of the solution is to make it inescapably clear that cooking ingredients and personal-care products cost a lot of money, which will be paid back in full if they are stolen and wasted. It's never too soon to emphasize the fact that taking things without permission is stealing, and that those who steal and/or lie lose the privilege of being trusted.
The Potion-Maker Phase often lasts several years, and it's not all bad; it's motivated by curiosity as much as by naughtiness, and can be channeled into more productive experiments than turmeric-and-cleanser. However, naughtiness is definitely a factor - that whole "Ha ha, I know I'm not supposed to" attitude - and the best way to curtail it is to make it cost them plenty every time.
Expect a whole lot of screaming when they learn the price of turmeric and have to hand their own precious money to the cashier to pay for their illicit experiment.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-08 10:13 pm (UTC)They did that a few months ago. In their defense, they limited themselves to painting the cars they'd made at Ana's birthday party. They still managed to ruin several articles of clothing, but I found out about the mess in bits and pieces so I didn't scream.
Meanwhile, if they've entered the Potion-Maker Phase, the only solution I know of is to lock up all the toxic and flammable potential potion-ingredients.
You know, we don't generally *have* toxic (at least, toxic in doses you're likely to consume - dishwashing soap is toxic, but only if you gulp it down, same with nutmeg, that sort of thing) things in the house. Jenn must've bought the Ajax for something specific because we usually use baking soda for that sort of cleaning. (What really bugs me is when there's something the kids shouldn't be into, and I don't know about it. Like the time Evangeline spilled nail polish all over the floor. And then tried to clean it up. She should've asked for help.... If I'd known my sister had let them put their own nail polish in the crayon box, I would've told Evangeline not to play with it after saying yes to the crayons!)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-08 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-09 12:19 am (UTC)LOL, by now they may understand that that's what you meant, but also that it's not what you said, so they could plausibly protest that you only said no to the food coloring, and never said a word about the turmeric.
You might want to have a little discussion about the letter vs. the spirit of the law, and what that means in terms of your expectations re their conduct. If they're on the spectrum, it's possible that they really don't understand that distinction as clearly as you think, and thus are genuinely puzzled and hurt by being punished for deeds they weren't specifically told not to do.
My boy who got Comet all over the kitchen was one of those. However, it was very hard to tell the difference between him really not comprehending, and him feigning incomprehension because he'd learned that one couldn't prove he'd understood something. His elder brother was even worse.
Bwahahaha, however, their Cruel Governess (AKA me) knew a trick worth two of that: if there's a possibility that they didn't understand my rules, then obviously I must not have Explained them in sufficient detail, right? Perseveration is a super-power, and I've got it in spades; if necessary, I can Explain the same thing all week. They eventually found it was a lot less tedious to just mind the rules, but it did take a while.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 03:11 am (UTC)LOL, I try not to do this to the nieces, because I love them (although they're learning never to ask me the definition of a word, because first I ask them to guess from context, then I spend 20 minutes talking about the etymology of the word and other words that are related to it and (if possible) Latin roots and affixes!), but I've found it works wonders on those grown-ups who think that just because you do something differently from them, what you really want to do is have your choices questioned every day.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 03:30 am (UTC)(I need editing again!)
BTW, do you need turmeric? Because it's pretty darn cheap here. I've even seen raw turmeric root in stores, though I don't use enough of it to merit purchasing! They only aren't supposed to play with THAT spice because it stains and anyway, we have a consistent rule of no playing with spices. But our local grocery store sells spices in bulk cheap.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 06:19 am (UTC)