The Manny Diaries pt. 3

Step aside Jo Frost!  There's a new sheriff in town.  And his name is Supermanny!
Nothing has changed since last week's post.  I still love my job.  But there are challenges.  Summer, for example.  What do I do with three boys in the summer that they'll all enjoy?  And how do I discipline in a way that is effective, yet creative?  After a lot of contemplation, I've finally discovered the answers to both questions.

Question #1:  What do I do with three boys in the summer that they'll all enjoy?

Keep the boys' interests in mind.  Ask them what they want to do.  Find ways to make things happen, but don't be afraid to say no.  The 12-year old wants to do some expensive things, such as paintball and Hershey Park.  He understands that these are costly activities, so they may or may not happen.  The younger boys are a little easier to please.  Just give them a net and some water shoes and take them to the creek and they're set for hours.  Free can be fun!
Another thing to do with the boys this summer is to get them out of their comfort zones.  The boys despise reading.  So what did we do yesterday?  We got signed up for the library's Summer Reading Program, which, by the way, is free.  Did I mention that free can be fun?  The boys were given sheets to keep track of their reading.  They get to mark off every time they read for ten minutes and eventually earn prizes.  The 12-year old read for an hour yesterday!  That blew my mind!  It just takes a little motivation.
Every Thursday, the library will have a different show or demonstration.  For example, today, the boys and I went to see a science show.  Next week is a magic show.  I'm super excited about Thursday mornings now.



Question #2:  How do I discipline in a way that is effective, yet creative?

I had a blast with this!  My creative juices have really been pumping for the past month or so.  I even have pictures of my creations!

This is Beastboy from Teen Titans Go.  This show is always on!  I've probably seen every episode sixteen times by now.  So, since Beastboy is such a well known character for the 5-year old, I decided to use him as my example.  As you can see in the pictures, Beastboy has listening ears, watchful eyes, a respectful mouth, gentle hands, and gentle feet.  These are all characteristics that the 5-year old needs to work on.  When the 5-year old, say, hits one of the dogs...

...Beastboy loses his hands.  Beastboy is a whipping boy of sorts.  But the 5-year old gets very offended when his whipping boy gets punished.  Doesn't sound like the 5-year old is getting disciplined, though, huh?  If Beastboy loses all his detachable parts, the 5-year old loses a privilege.  No more iPad for the rest of the day.  Or no more TV for the rest of the day.  With Beastboy, discipline is still happening, but in a way that the 5-year old can understand.

What's the best way to keep zombies out of your house during the zombie apocalypse?  Plant a garden, obviously.  The 11-year old loves playing games on his iPad.  He's been playing a lot of Plants vs. Zombies lately.  Thus the plant and the zombie.  But enough about the game.
On to the discipline.  You know how in golf the less points you have the better?  The same is true in this case.  I took all of the 11-year old's worst habits then made him make the point system.  I helped.  He yells a lot, so for yelling, he only wanted one point.  I think we finally agreed on three points.  For lying, which he is doing very well on, he wanted five points.  That's not how this works.  The more you do something, such as yelling, the more points you get, in hopes that you will think before you act.  The points limit is ten points.  After getting ten points, the 11-year old loses his iPad for the day.  If things continue, he'll lose his Playstation.  But don't worry!  He can redeem himself.  By apologizing or using his manners, he can have points deducted to get back down to zero.  If we're having a really rough day and we're at nine points, the 11-year old has the option of cheating to get a clean slate.  For a cheat, he simply needs to perform a chore, such as folding laundry, taking out the trash, or helping with dinner.  After performing the chore, the score sheet goes back to zero.  And if he acts up again, we start all over.
The important thing about this idea, in my opinion, was giving the 11-year old the power to make the point system (even if I did have to guide him a little bit).  This shows him that I care about his opinion and I trust his judgement.

The 12-year old is developing the mouth of a sailor.  So what to do?  I Googled alternatives to swear jars and found...nothing.  So a swear jar it is.  Actually, it's a What the What?? jar.  But, instead of the 12-year old putting money into the jar, we'll just be using tokens.  If he gets five tokens put in the jar, he loses the Xbox for the day.  Ten tokens, he loses his phone.  I prefer this method over the paying money method because nobody benefits.  With the traditional swear jar, someone (usually the parents) benefits from the money in the jar.  With the What the What?? jar, the only thing being served is discipline.

This little guy is the Gadget Bag.  In the past, the boys' mom used to hide their iPads.  Give the boys five minutes and they either have the iPads in their hands, or the house is a mess from the search.  The Gadget Bag is a form of trust, on both the boys' part, and mom's part.  And mine, I guess.  When the "gadgets" aren't in use, they go in the bag.  This way, the boys always know where their beloved iPads are.  But, heaven forbid, an iPad should be taken from the Gadget Bag without permission.  Punishment is, you guessed it, no more iPad for the rest of the day.  I love this method, which I thought I came up with myself only to find other people use it also.  The Gadget Bag shows that the boys' mom and I trust them enough to do the right thing by keeping the iPads in the bag.  It also shows the boys that they can trust mom and I.  The days of hiding things from them is over.  Trust is an important thing, especially amongst family members.

My job couldn't be more perfect.  I am extremely happy with where I am in my life right now.  I love working with the boys and helping to raise three fine gentlemen.  After almost eight months with the boys, I have seen so much change in all three of them.  Now I know why Supernanny does what she does.  She sees the fruits of her labors.  And her fruits are life changing.  Even though I may think as myself as Supermanny, I know I still have a ways to go before I can take on Jo Frost in nanny to manny combat.  But she had better get ready, because here I come.