Paranoia > Punishment

I may have stumbled upon the ultimate punishment for my girls -- nothing at all!

After asking them nicely numerous times to calm down in the car, I gave up and just let them go. They got wilder, of course, being very loud and using a lot of rude talk. It lasted nearly the entire ride of taking my mother-in-law home.

When Misty's mom got out at her apartment, she got onto the girls, warning that they would end up getting in trouble, but still I didn't speak up.

Suddenly though, they were worried about what their punishment might be. "Are you going to spank us?" they asked.

"No, I don't need to spank you," I replied quietly.

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see," was all I said.

Now, I'd planned to call Misty and tell her not to get them any sort of treat from the grocery store (Emily had requested brownies, and Kendall wanted yogurt drinks). However, the theories they came up with in their ensuing paranoia were so much better.

"I think he's going to go to Publix and tell Mommy."

"I feel like he's going to write about it on YouTube."

"Maybe he'll never take us to the Lego Store again."

"Or not take us to get cupcakes any more."

"What if we never get to go to Disney World again?"

"Or never get to go to the beach again?"

"Maybe he won't let us ride bikes this weekend."

"Maybe he'll make us go to Old Navy" (this one was my favorite).

"Maybe he'll get rid of Daisy."

"What if we don't get to go to Paige's birthday party tomorrow?"

"What if he takes our DS's away?"

"Daddy, why won't you just tell us!?"

Other than these whispered fears, the girls were virtually silent the whole way home. I'm definitely trying this tactic again.