SYNNOVE ELISE!!!

Before I begin, I'd like to preface that Synnove has been working on learning how to think before she acts. I have said to her many many times..."Synnove, when you are doing something, or you want to do something, you need to think in your head, 'would mommy or daddy think that it's ok for me to do this?' and if the answer is 'no' then you need to tell yourself to stop. If the answer is 'I don't know,' then you need to come ask mommy or daddy if it's ok first before you do it." It's hard raising this head-strong 4-year-old, so this is the book I'm reading...


With that said...

It all started on Thursday, the morning we woke with snow. Synnove wanted to go outside in the morning, but Soren wasn't feeling well and I had some business to deal with on the phone/computer. I told her we would go out, but that she needed to wait a bit. A bit later, I'm downstairs and I hear the doorbell ring several times (it's like 9AM). I knew it was one of the kids and was NOT happy that they had decided to venture outside on their own without telling me. I open the door to see Synnove in her footie jammies and her snow pants/boots. Frantic, I ask where Soren is, and she tells me..."out here somewhere..." My heart skips a beat, but am soon relieved to see that Soren was still inside. I give Synnove a good "talking to" and dress Soren up for the cold. I had been interrupted and was still in the middle of doing something, so I told the kids that I would be out in a few minutes. Letting them outside on their own is something I've done for quite some time, as they have proven themselves to stay within the invisible boundaries.

Ten or so minutes later, I venture outside. It's a beautiful day, there's snow on the ground, and there's not a sound in the air. No sound at all...none...nill...nada. I'm not panicking yet, but am yelling around the property for Synnove. No response. I look towards the field and see two sleds and two abandoned snow coats. My heart begins to pound. By now, I'm running around and screaming Synnove's name. Silence. I begin to think the worst, but convince myself that no bear or mountain lion would be roaming in such broad daylight...or would they?? Finally, I hear a faint voice and realize that at least one of the kids is down by the little stream. This stream is down a very long and fairly steep bank off the side of our property. Synnove has NEVER gone down there alone, and knows she isn't allowed. By now, I'm shaking and almost in tears, but greatly relieved. Without hesitation, I begin to make my way down. I can't see the kids yet, but at least I can hear them. Synnove isn't phased as I grab her arms and begin to frantically explain how terrified I was and how terribly WRONG she was do go down there...etc. Soren was near tears and telling me how cold he was. He was actually across the small creek and it was interesting trying to get him over the awkward path. I had already ordered Synnove to make her way to the house while I gathered up Soren. We went inside and didn't play outdoors for the rest of the day.

Earlier that morning, I had told the kids that Soren's room was off limits for the day. I had the humidifier set up next to his bed from the night before, didn't want to move it, and didn't want the kids tempted to touch it. The humidifier has been in either Synnove's or Soren's room for the last month as they have been trading sickness back and forth and have not had a problem touching it in the past...however, I didn't want to take the chance since the set-up in Soren's room was more accessible and elaborate. Anyway, I did catch them in there standing on TOP of Soren's built-in desk sometime later. I ordered them down, reminded them they weren't to be in there, and shut the door as best I could (his door doesn't shut).

The day went on, the kids freaked the poo out of me (creek story), I cleaned the house, Adam came home, blah, blah, blah. Bedtime came around and I walked into Soren's room to find that the entire contents of the humidifier (proly 3/4 gallon of water) had been dumped on the carpet. We found out that Synnove knew all about it and practically laughed in our faces. UNbelievable!! Adam "dealt" with her while I soaked two full bath towels with the water from the carpet and gave Soren a lecture on how he needed to make sure to tell Synnove "no" if she ever tried to get him to do something that he knew was wrong and to come tell mommy. That would have been the second time he'd heard that lecture that day.

As if the events of Thursday weren't enough...wait till you hear about Saturday...

On Saturday, we were set to leave in the morning to help Adam's mom move some things from her place to ours...as she is moving to Seattle to care for her parents and needs a place to store some excess. It was about 15 minutes before we were to leave. I was finishing getting dressed, Adam was gathering tie-downs and tarps outside, and the kids were ready and playing downstairs till we were to leave. Each of the kids has a separate baby monitor in their rooms so I can usually hear whatever is going on downstairs. It sounded like they were in Synnove's room playing some sort of game. Synnove kept saying "let's do purple" or "let's do orange" and saying "HIDE!!" whenever Adam opened the front door. I was trying to hurry and get ready, so I didn't check on them right away...but then my suspicions got the better of me. I make my way down to her room to find her door shut. I open it in complete HORROR!! At first I didn't know what I was even looking at. There was some sort of purple goo all over the carpet, sheets, their clothes, hair, etc. Soren's head was the worst...it was completely covered in it! Two seconds later I realize that they had gotten into my craft drawers in the utility room and grabbed craft glue (orange cap), and purple fabric paint. Again, this is something they have NEVER done before (getting into my craft drawers)! And, of course, Synnove was the instigator, as Soren doesn't even know how to open a door and couldn't even get into the utility room if he wanted to.

I was beyond words. No amount of me yelling, lecturing, etc. was ever going to make a dent in this disciplinary act of parenting after the lack of Synnove's remorse from Thursday's incidents, AND the fact that, despite the look on my face...Synnove, again, was laughing without the fear of the inevitable pain that was going to be on her backside.

Without hesitation, I went out the front door to yell at Adam to come and take care of Synnove (and Soren too). I had informed him that he had better be ticked off and ready to be firm...as he has a tendency to be a softie. Synnove knows that when daddy is the one dishing out the discipline, then she must be in some pretty serious business! Anyway, Adam and I both made it clear to them that what they did was...well, not good. I really wanted to take a picture of the kids before their bath, but didn't want to condone their bad behavior by making a humorous spectacle of them. Instead, I took pictures of their spoils everywhere else (see below).

We made it out the door relatively on time despite the delay. The kids behaved well during the long day of packing and driving. We didn't expect anything less from them, especially since their morning was so...so...something...I can't think of a good word for it. The truck was jam-packed in back, as well as in the cab. By about 3:30 we were on our way home. Grandma Patty had given them some things to take home, as well as some sidewalk chalk that they played with while we loaded the truck. Synnove had several things to keep her occupied, and it wasn't until we got home and I took her out of her seat that I realized what she had done. She had taken pink sidewalk chalk to her face, the window, side panel, and a brand new white lampshade (one of the things were were taking home from the move). SYNNOVE ELISE!!!! Let's just leave it at that.

Their clothes just after the fabric paint incident (of course they were wearing non-play-clothes)

This isn't a very good portrayal of the carpet, but her carpet is stuck this way until it gets replaced someday. Fortunately, the carpet in her room is already trashed. They also ruined Synnove's bed skirt and filled the play shopping cart (right) full of purple as well.

You can see the two tools of destruction on the right.

This is what I found in the utility room. I don't know HOW they found the craft glue as it would have been buried in my large scrapbooking cart. The fabric paint is something I forgot I even had. It was stashed in a drawer, in a white bag. They would have had to do some digging to find it.

Below is what was left AFTER I washed everything. They not only ruined their clothes and Synnove's sheets, but they also ruined MY favorite baby blanket...made by my Aunt Cindi 28 years ago. Needless to say, Saturday was a sad day in the Brown House.