Hamster search...

I’ve never yet had to smack my children. And no, I’m not a Mommy who doesn’t believe that sometimes all a child needs is a smack on the bum, but I do believe that all children respond differently to different methods of discipline, and I would rather find something more constructive than a smack to get a point across! With Ella, it has always been clear that all it takes is a stern voice to get her to pay attention. Jem’s a little different, yet I’ve never had to smack her…

…until recently - when she lost Scratchy (this is who Scratchy is)! Admittedly, I should have been paying more attention to what Jem was up to. But when she met me half way down the stairs (as I was on my way up to check on her) with eyes the size of saucers, and told me that she had lost Scratchy, I almost jumped out of my skin! Both girls know that they are not allowed to take Scratchy out of her cage unless the door to the room they are playing in is closed – we have Maya the cat, remember! And Jem knows very well that she is not allowed to play with Scratchy on her own. Not only was Jem playing with Scratchy on her own, but the door to the room was wide open. I yelled to Ella to close all the doors and windows in an effort to keep Maya outside - and the search began! We looked in every room, in every nook and cranny, while Jem sat on the floor crying because I had told her that she was in BIIIG trouble!  All I could think of was how I was going to tell Scratchy’s owners, who had just an hour before been over to visit Scratchy, that their beloved hamster was lost - or eaten! Sure, I could probably find another grey dwarf hamster to replace Scratchy, but very little chance that I would find another grey dwarf hamster half as chilled as this one is. With these thoughts running through my head, and Jem beside me, I took her by the arm and smacked her on the bum. It was just a little smack but I’m not sure who was more mortified – Jem, who stood wailing “Owieee”, or myself, who intensified the hamster search.

After turning the upstairs of our house upside down, Ella and I decided to empty out her cupboard, and found a sweet little hamster hiding amongst the toys. Never in my life have I been so relieved to see a hamster - except maybe for when I lost my own hamster! *blush*

Needless to say, my children have been told that they are not yet ready to have a hamster of their own!

Something else I firmly believe is that once the kids have been in trouble that they need to be hugged – not so that they feel that they’re getting away with anything, but so that they understand that the event is over. It’s been dealt with, and Mom or Dad still love them. They’re just little, they mess up – we all do, but there’s nothing worse than feeling that you haven’t been forgiven by the people who love you the most!

xoxo