Filed under: Middle school, 13-14 years
How do you keep from laughing when your son or daughter gets in trouble at school for something funny? I remember working with a lady a few years ago who always warned me, "Just wait, your time is coming," when I would laugh at the antics of her son. One day, she received a call from the school that her son was in the principal's office for being disruptive during the school fire drill. Apparently, he had lead the school in the limbo while they were exiting the school. She called her husband to go with her to the meeting and they had to make a pact not to look at each other during the meeting because they were afraid they would laugh.That's funny, right? Yes, he was disruptive and broke the rules, but I always wondered what I would do when that happened to me. Well, I can wonder no more. My son came home from school Friday telling me how he had gotten into trouble in band class for yelling during practice. They were playing a song that was a Paso Doble and it reminded him of "Dancing with the Stars," so when the song ended, he threw his fist into the air passionately, imitating Bruno, and yelled out "10!" The whole class laughed, of course, and now he has lunch detention.
He told me the story and I wasn't prepared, so of course I laughed. His response to me was, "I told my friends you would probably laugh and I wouldn't get in trouble."
Well, that sobered me right up. Yes, it was funny, but no, he should not have done it. So we had a little chat about appropriate behavior and I told him to save the Seinfeld stand-up routine for the lunch table. Now I just need a little practice on my poker face and response time.
How do you reprimand your children when they do something that's funny, yet still against the rules?Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
