Well, I've sat down a finally written some family rules and some consequences. I've tried it before, but because I didn't really believe in them ... they just went nowhere... so I've just picked the ones that I can actually keep to. They're quite selfish really. Stop d##m well breaking my stuff!! I rant, I rave, I smack, I boil and throw a major Mummy tantrum, and still my face cream gets squeezed down the plug hole. (Yes, that happened tonight). But since I've sat down and thought about this, when I was trying to think of the reason WHY we "Don't play with, break or loose Mummy's things", I realised that it's quite a reasonable request. When I was a kid it was just a given that we don't break our stuff, because we are a family and we work together. Somehow, that's just something I havn't managed to pass down to Catherine. (I know she's only four, but I think she's getting to the stage where she can understand some of this stuff).
Anyway. I think it's just the result of being abused by Catherines Dad all those years. His family just smashed each others things on a daily basis. They were so poor, and yet they acted like they were millionaires, coz they'd buy something new, then leave it out in the rain (literally). On the other hand, we lived off one income and were probably poorer than alot of people, but when I was a kid I trapsed off to school I went and told everyone we were rich, coz when I asked my Dad he said "We're alot better off than alot of people in the world".
It's just that thing of gratitude that I really need to regain, and pass down to Catherine.
.JPG)
