Dekker has entered a new stage of his life. He lies. A lot. Nothing big and harmful at all, but deception nonetheless.
His first lie of the day earned him a time out. When I called him out of his time out, I warned him that if he lied again, his punishments would get worse. It wasn’t long before he threw another lie out, and Brady and I tried to figure out a consequence that was outside the norm. I think it killed Dekker more standing in front of us while we thought about what to do with him.
We finally settled on diaper duty. Not really that bad of a job, but one that would last all day. The job meant that, every time we changed Rowan or Laela’s diapers, no matter where we were or what we were doing, Dekker had to bring us the diaper/wipes/cream, and when we were done, he’d take care of the diaper. As soon as I explained it all to him, he cried and cried, but that was mostly just because he knew he was being punished. Once he had all of the rules explained, I asked him to grab the diaper at the bottom of the stairs and bring it up to the diaper genie in their room. I didn’t realize that Brady had already thrown it up the stairs, but Dekker headed upstairs, located it, and put it away without complaining.
He rocked that punishment today, I’ve got to say. He didn’t whine or fuss over it, but I knew he was aware of it as a punishment still, because usually, if there are two diapers, he suggests Laela helps with one. But none of that today. He’d just take both. He worked really hard to have a good attitude.
Coming up on the end of their day, Brady gave them the heads up that they had about ten minutes before we’d start tidying toys and getting ready for bed. Dekker surprised us all by suggesting that we just “start right now.” So we did! We tidied the toys and made it upstairs in what felt like record time. They did their bathroom stuff and then came into their room for Laela and Rowans diaper changes. As soon as the old ones were rolled up, Dekker put them in the diaper genie and informed us that it needed to be emptied soon, which it really did. As Brady changed the bag, I asked Dekker if he remembered why he was on diaper duty today. “Ya, because I lied.”
I am SO thrilled with how well the day turned out. Dekker took his punishment very well, as in without complaint, but fully realizing that he was in trouble all by himself. I hope it starts to sink in soon. But either way, I am incredibly proud of Dekker today <3