Sassy Sauce
The other day WE and I were babysitting and one of the little boys (after he had gotten into trouble with his older sister for talking back) said, “Sometimes I act saucy. But I never sauce my mom.”
It was super cute. He’s only 3 or 4 years old and as I later found out, that Mom has what she calls her Sassy Sauce. She uses white vinegar or Tabasco sauce as punishment when her kids start talking back to her. It’s harmless and yet quite brilliant if you ask me.
I’ve always hoped that when I am a parent, I will be creative enough to keep most parental punishment as real to the actual consequences of a poor decision as possible. Even though I doubt that when kids are older, they will somehow magically get a nasty taste of vinegar or lemon juice in their mouths every time they speak without thinking, I bet that those kids will have developed a real sense for watching their tongue as well as the real feeling of regret when they don’t.
Words are very powerful and can do much good or much harm – depending on how they are used. What a great lesson to be learned in a very poignant way at a very early age.
So that got me thinking…what if my kids are sarcastic or mean? What if they ditch school? What if they pee on the street? Or hit their little brother?… Then what will I do?!?
Man, suddenly I don’t feel ready to be a parent at all.
…so maybe I’ll just stick to using the Sassy Sauce on WE =)
i heard once that “hot saucing” is illegal in virginia. i had a student in one of my kindergarten classes that got that punishment every now and again, and it was quite the debate in the faculty lounge. apparently it can cause burns, swelling, and whatnot to the tongue, esophagus, and stomach. who knew?
either way, i’m finding now with reggie that not all discipline techniques are equal. some work, some don’t. but don’t let that deter you from parenthood. the fun (and the learning) is in the unknown, everyday adventures!
So, I’m pretty sure that she actually uses vinegar – not hot sauce. does that cause burns???
Fun topic.
I’m already finding that my boys respond very differently to punishment.
We’ve been lucky so foar with Allen. He is a sensitive little guy and getting down on his level and lowering our voices works brilliantly. Time outs work great too. We sit him in a corner (or other not-fun place) for as many minutes as his age. 3 minutes is an eternity for him now!
Brig is going to give us a little more guff. He is head strong and a bit of a brute. I might need some tips for him…or a few parenting books.
And A2, I’m a firm believer that parenting is “on the job training.” You’re never ready for kids until you have them. I love learning along side my boys.
My favorite thing about Allen right now is how he bears his testimony at random times (and to random people). He ends with Jesus being “reser-RECT-ed!” Priceless.
Back to punishments though. One thing we ALWAYS do is show an increase of love after punishment. I can tell that it helps things really feel resolved and it keeps the peace in our home.
Okay, thats all from me.
Miss you.
Hey, cool idea! Don’t worry, you never have all the answers as a parent. You just try to do your best and most of the time, kids turn out just fine. And I’m sure Nicholas will be peeing somewhere inappropriate sometime – I think I’ll just laugh : )
Yep. I think Carrie said it right. Sometimes you just laugh. We had some friends over yesterday, and when we were outside, Jared just pulled down his pants and started peeing. What can you do? Since he’s only been wearing underwear for a week, I was just glad that he recognized he needed to go and didn’t wet his pants. And everyone just laughed.
So, the peeing on the street thing came from a story that a co-worker told me. His wife does day care and one of the kids asked her why some people didn’t like Michael Jackson (this was recently when he was in the news all the time). She told him that he had a hard life and had done some bad things. Of course, that was not enough for the kid and he asked what kind of bad things. Not wanting to get into the details she just said “the worst things you can imagine.” The boy got this sly look on his face and said, “Naw, he didn’t pee on the street did he???”
=)
Just as long as I get to sassy sauce you…
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