Rule out the 3

[Andersson]

"I can't", "I forgot", "I don't remember" - those were the top three responses we always seemed to get when our kids were growing up. We quickly made a list of things that are not allowed to be said within our household and while it took a bit for the kids to catch on, it did save us many headaches through the years.

 

[Victor]

I understand how frustrating it is when kids say those things, but what happens if they really did forget? How were they able to express that to you?

 

[Andersson]

I think it is more of a give and take issue really. Many times you can hear the same thing so many times you can tell from their tone and inflictions which is a lie and which is not. We had a huge issue with our son doing this for everything from getting dressed in the morning (I can't remember where my clothes are) to homework in the afternoons (I don't remember having homework) to eating dinner (I can't, but without any valid reason as to why he could not eat).

 

[Lorenzo]

I've heard these lines said by my kids one time too many. What an innovative way to stop your kids from saying these words! I want to try this at home and see how it works.

 

[Chrisitan]

That sounds like our house. I have a 9 year old, a 7 year old and my wife is pregnant not. Right now our 9 year old son is very fond of "I forgot" and it's usually about chores or homework. To counter this we made a "chore chart[" where my son and daughter have all of our chores listed. They get to "earn" their $5 a week allowance by doing their chores. If they don't do their chores then they don't get whatever amount we have assigned to that chore. For example, our daughter has to load the dishwasher. This chore is worth twenty five cents and if she doesn't do it that day, she doesn't get the twenty five cents. That is deducted from her allowance so that she would only get $4.75. Their homework is also listed as a chore as is brushing their teeth and so on. So they earn their salary just as we do. Their teachers have their assignments listed on the school web site, but my sister, who uses the same system, has to ask their teacher every day when she picks them up from school. They all know they will be monitored and I think this is teaching them the basics of having a job to do and earning their money. We have gone even further and started a bank account (Mom's piggy bank) for them. They have to deposit a certain amount of their salary into it and we made up "bank book" where it is recorded. It's worked pretty well so far.

 

[John]

You've got this one right! If I hear, "I forgot" one more time, I think I'll pull out what's left of my hair. Don't tell me you're going to do something so I don't have to do it and then "forget" to do it. I can just do it in the first place.

 

[polamalu43]

Good plan of action! I hate hearing "I can't ". Can't is not a word in our dictionary I would always say. I never thought of ruling them out of our house - very clever.

 

[BigPapa]

My daughter's favorite is "I didn't hear you". It drives me nuts because I know for a fact she did hear me and chose not to listen. I guess now I know how my wife feels about my selective hearing.