PRIORITIES, DAY 0, Yesterday

6 hours after getting our precious boy back from a week at scout camp....GROUNDED. What the heck!



Anyway, Zack and I were leaving, mom was sleeping, people were coming in about two hours. He had a few jobs to do before company came. I was taking Zack so he wouldn't be in the way.



Instructions (please note: these were not written down - parent mistake - we'll try it next time).



1. Anything from scout camp that might have a bug or insect in it, get it to the garage. (<10min)

2. Clean the downstairs toilet, wipe the counter and sink. (20min)

3. Load the few dishes in the sink, tidy up the kitchen, touch up the floor (meaning dad mostly kept up on the kitchen while he was away).(20min)

4. Switch the laundry and go through the camp stuff and start a load of dirty clothes.(15min)

5. Finish spraying off the deck so it's ready for the party (dad already cleaned most of the deck, but had to leave before he could finish).(20min)

6. If he hurries, he will have time to hook up the new DVD player (both died within a weeks time and we got one so the kids could watch movies this week, while Jen is trying to rest up for the birth/Oh, and Brenden loves anything to do with hooking up electronic equipment to the TV...therefore, a reward.)



So if he hurried it might have taken an hour and a half to complete the required tasks. I thought the worst case scenario would be that he would be finishing the deck when guests arrived.



The guest arrived late, meaning he would have had plenty of time to get everything done, if he would have just done it. Mom woke up from her nap an hour after I left. He had cleaned off the kitchen table (he claims it was terribly dirty - but I can't remember seeing anything but a couple dishes). Mom made him go clean the bathroom, but of course she wasn't aware of the 'job list' that I had given him.



I returned about 2 1/2 - 3 hours later. I noticed all the scout stuff in the garage (#1 done), mom said the bathroom was done (#2 done), I didn't see anything done in the kitchen, but the table was clean, and maybe the floor got swept (#3 fail), no change in the laundry room (#4 fail), the deck was the same as when I left (#5 fail). What was done, was the new DVD player hooked up to the TV upstairs.



Although it wasn't confessed to me, this is what the parent reenactment suggests:



Brenden puts everything from scout camp in the garage. He comes back in and sees the DVD player on the counter in the kitchen. He this decides that he can totally get that hooked up and still have enough time to finish everything on the list. It takes longer than thought to get the DVD player hooked up. It is now time to wake up mom. Brenden runs downstairs and cleans the table off and sweeps the floor. Mom comes downstairs and finds the bathroom in the same condition. Brenden cleans the bathroom to mom's specifications. He then wants to talk to mom about scout camp and all the experiences had. Remember, Jen doesn't know about the 'job list'. People come over. Brenden joins the party. Dad comes home. Parents talk. Brenden is grounded.



I am convinced that he should be grounded, so we will see how long it takes him to get ungrounded. I think he could be good to go in a couple hours, but he will start heavy-ing and ho-ing as soon as I start giving him tasks. Tasks will be compounded and he will stay grounded until his attitude changes or I run out of tasks. Hopefully I can continue to document this parent vs. tween struggle in order for a successful analysis of either 'the dutiful parent trying to raise an unlazy kid' or 'the mean parent who loves to have a slave'.

Stay tuned.



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