t shirt painting and tennis shoe painting is always good for a couple of hours of near quiet time. Cooking is an excellent way to kill a couple of hours.
Little girls at that age that I’ve noticed seem to be really involved in “American Girl” and little House on the Prairie books.
How about a bunch of rub on tattoes for her to be applied the morning she is picked up by her parents. That’ll teach 'em.
I agree with Tater that it would take about a month to get this girl to come around to being less of a whiner. You only have a couple more days to tolerate, but you want to set the tone for the next visit if it ever happens.
Explain to Ms. Whiney that the squeak wheel gets the grease. The more she whines, the more punishiment she will get. I’m thinking along the lines of cleaning the house.
You know the old saying, the beatings will continue until moral improves.
Thank you all for all the suggestions. As it turns out, Devil Girl turned to Angel Girl yesterday. I returned home with a jewelry making kit, and a beaded hair thingy making kit. I half expected to find SO in front of the TV surrounded by empty beer cans and niece upstairs having been punished for the entire afternoon. Instead, they weren’t even home. They had gone to the local pedestrian mall shopping all day. She was wonderful, and they had a great time.
SO had stumbled on a bead shop, and without even thinking bought her beads & stuff to make a necklace, so the aforementioned kits stayed in the car. I surreptitiously gave 'em to SO this morning in case they are needed today.
She quietly played most of the evening last night, cutely asked SO questions about his basketball game which charmed him all to hell, and did a song-and-dance thing for us at halftime to her new “M2M” CD. She even watched half of “1900 house” house with me last night, marveling all the while that in the 1900’s you only got 3 changes of clothes.
I will have to share my devil niece story but only after saying send her home with a note to her parents with directions to the nearest orphanage. If you plan it right you may never have to babysit again.
One summer when I didn’t go to summer school in college, I babysat my niece and nephew. They were such devil children. When they would fight with eachother I would make them both sit in either eachothers rooms and let them trash it all they wanted or in the bathroom. Time out wouldn’t work with them since they were so unruly. Anyway, the bathroom was wonderful. It had no toys and I always said once you can behave I will let you out. Anyway, my niece who is more demonstrative than my nephew would throw fits in there and eventually would calm down. My nephew (I really hate him) would calm down quickly and then try to get back at me later for punishing him. Did I say I really hate him? It is actually much worse than that. The only good thing is that I can’t blame it entirely on my sister since he was raised primarily by his father since birth and my sister raised my niece. Anyway, after they finished trashing whatever they wanted they would have to clean it up and if my sister and brother in law got home and they weren’t cleaned up then they would get in serious trouble.
(Note, this brother in law is not their father)
One day, after I got there (about 7 in the morning before my sister and her husband left work everyday) I would fall back asleep for a few hours until they started to stir around 9 or 10 o’clock. Well, I oversleep and after I wake up I discover that they got up early and were playing in the backyard. Well, they found RIT clothing dye and were trying to tye dye all their clothes. My niece had some cloth shoes that she died blue with some murky streaks, my nephew dyed all his shirts, and they both tye dyed all their underwear. It is funny now but it really irked me to no end.
These aren’t even the devil children stories from them. Perhaps, I should start a thread about other people’s children since this seems more centered on advice.
