Follow through!

As a parent you often hear from other parents that it is so important to be consistent and follow through. My mom always said,"Mean what you say and say what you mean." This is often times difficult and today I had to follow through on something very hard. After the kids came home from school, I asked them to start their homework. Of course they took their sweet time, but eventually accomplished this. I told them to proceed with their chores. To set this up properly, I should first explain that I had been making salsa all day long and that yesterday I had rearranged my office/front room and still haven't put it back completely. So the house is a mess and I figure, I will just have them do surface cleaning and not worry about sweeping, washing, mopping or vacuuming. I just wanted it picked up. So I tell them to work as a team and pick up the kitchen floor, the family room and front room, and clean off the table and island. Of course they ignore me and continue to allow them selves to get distracted. Finally I have had it. (not only are they ignoring me but they are also fighting with one another and teasing each other.) I tell them they have ten minutes until I spank them all. So Kaleb listens finally and starts picking up and asks Karly to pick up as well. She ignores him and continues to sit on her butt. After a few minutes of this, I decide to step in. I tell her to get up and start helping and realize she is sitting on the couch and playing pokemon. so I ask for her cards. I had already told them to put the cards away during homework time. So I take the cards and tell her to get to work or they go in the trash. Instead of listening to me, she stomps her foot and begins to scream. Now she is 7 years old and way past the age that fits are somewhat tolerated. So I immediately take the cards and throw them in the trash. This sets off screaming and jumping and hysterics. To make a long story a bit shorter-she was eventually sent to her room where she continued and then I had to take away her webkin and threaten "death by garbage" for this toy if the fit continued. This was so hard! I wanted to take the cards out and allow her to earn them back but I kept thinking about how I always allow them to earn stuff back and that is why they never listen to me. So I am leaving them there and to make it harder to retrieve, I have put salsa remains all over the top of them. Hopefully they will learn and listen next time. Side note-Kaleb got really upset by all the fits and yelling and began to cry but he certainly did a great job at cleaning the house! House is clean, hands are burning from salsa, kids are calm and it's time for pack meeting!