Never Stop Rocking

Jordan, the older of the two kids, was sitting on the rocking chair glued to the Mario game on TV. He was also actively (almost violently?) rocking the chair back and forth.

"Jordan, can you stop rocking so much on the chair, please?" I asked.

"Ok."

Five minutes passed and he was violently rocking on the chair again.

I cringed a little. "Jordan, you need to stop rocking so hard on the chair. It's not designed for that and could break." Holy crap, I sound like my Dad!

"Sorry." He stopped and continued to play.

Another five minutes passed and he seemed to have forgotten what I just asked him to do.

"Jordan, please go sit on the couch instead. You can't rock on that chair like that."

Almost shocked that I was making him switch chairs, Jordan looked at me and proclaimed that my request was unfair.

"Just give me another chance!"

"I gave you enough chances. Go sit on the couch."

World War III was about to erupt. Arguing commenced with his belief that he didn't get enough "chances" and he refused to sit on the couch. I started to get really upset to the point where I was practically yelling. I turned off the Wii U and made him go to his room to lay down.

I want the boys to learn and realize that their actions come with consequences, good or bad. But I also hate being mean. Like, I seriously just want to be known as a nice parent, not just one who disciplines. I know this is wrong and it's a serious weakness I deal with. I want to be the good cop only! Brian can be the bad cop ;-).

Ten minutes passed and I decided to go to Jordan's room to talk with him. We had a short discussion on the importance of listening to his parents and why it's not okay to be reckless on furniture.

Within thirty minutes he is totally good again and it was like nothing ever happened. I breathed a sigh of relief. Phew.. he doesn't hate me... yet.