Time Out For Toys, Even Teens!!!

Posted by Vulnadia on Mar 29, 2010 at 02:45 PM At my house, sometimes it's easier to put a favourite toy in time out rather than the child in question. Sometimes it happens because of fighting over the same toy (typically something we have one of such as the tricycle or cozy coupe when one wants to ride it and one wants to play mechanic with it.) Other times I use it when I know that the child just will not benefit from sitting in the time out chair and will just go back to the things that got them in the trouble in the first place. Then I actually decided to put something of my teen's in time out. Yep, you are NEVER told old for this one, I supose...who knows. But now, I have proof positive, that I am in fact, a HORRIBLE mother for denying access to our library of video games. I had no idea it was going to cause such a stir! In year's past i've put the television remote in time out (his television will not work without it & without television he can't play video game systems or watch the DVD player or anything like that) and even his game controllers only (easier to store than the actual systems games & controllers taking them all away would be!) This time, I put his entire video game collection in time out. It's been that way since a little after Christmas, actually. I won't go into the reason behind being grounded or put in time out, that's nobody's business but my kid & his parental units, really. But I never EVER thought this tiny punishment would be wreaking so much havoc! You see, people have been asking to borrow his games. And in a kid world, that opens up the WHOLE new possibilty of loaning your video game library out to friends. Let's get smart here, parents, what would YOU do if you were in this situation? Hmmm... See it from the kids perspective...if I loan em out, then I can go over to the friend's house and PLAY my games...not rocket science by any means, but very VERY possible...and negates the original intent of the punishment! So, into time out the video games have gone. No loaning them out, no playing with them, in fact they make GREAT bookends from those books you should be reading instead!!!! So, tell me, why can't other kids and even their parents understand that we will not be loaning out games? Since being grounded, we've had many calls asking to borrow this or that. Each time they come through, (only one phone works in the house right now so this is an easy monitor) I stand there and make him tell them NO, I can't loan anything out. You would think other kids would get the "Hey, I'm grounded" but instead one kid appears to have taken it personally for some reason, why I don't know. At school, he gets asked about borrowing games, too. To make matters even sillier, one child has tried having his friend call to see if we will loan it to THEM thinking it was just him we wouldn't loan it to... When that wouldn't work, the other kid started calling the house. I STILL don't know who this child is that has been calling, I don't recognize the number and have never met him, but I stand there, and have my kid tell this child "NO" too... I've no idea what the kids have told their parents, but now it would seem that some of the parents feel like the punishment is unjust...I dont understand, really I dont. I've no idea what is up with all of this, really I don't. I should be able to punish my child as I see fit and not catch flack from it from other people! I would expect other parents to actually understand, not be upset about it! After all, they have to punish and ground their kids, too, or so you'd think! But yes, even big kids have toys that get put in time out, too!!! So, I'm the meanest mor horrible Mother in the universe...I've had worse titles!!!