Grounded

Two of the three kids are grounded--one for not turning in homework for weeks on end and consequently getting a D in English, of all things, and one for raising snotty to a true art form. Consequently, I am grounded, too. It isn't all that awful, as I always have something which I could be doing around here. The truly annoying part is that Kiki started out at two weeks of grounding and managed to negotiate it up to three weeks and six days because she couldn't stop her mouth. "I will NOT be grounded for two weeks and three days," she shouted at me.

"Fine. You are now grounded for two weeks and four days."

"Oh, no, you don't. You can't do this to me. I have rights, and you won't violate them. You will NOT ground me for two weeks and four days."

"Kiki, do you really want to go there? You know what I'm going to do..."

"Ha. YOU don't know what you're doing. You're just being mean. Go ahead--go ahead and ground me for two weeks and five days. See if I care. You're going to ground me for two weeks and five days anyway, so just get it over with."

"Okay. Two weeks and five days."

"What!?!?!!! How could you?! You have a lot of nerve. No one else's mom would be so mean."

"Kiki. Stop. Think about what you are saying. You are negotiating yourself into a bad place. You've been through this before, and you know I will keep going. Take a breath and get ahold of yourself."

She pauses. She takes a deep breath. Then she glares at me and her voice comes from deep in her chest. I half expect her head to rotate 360 degrees. And what she says is highly reminiscent of Linda Blair in The Exorcist and ends with her telling me to "Go ahead. Ground me for some MORE time."

So, for both of us, it is going to be a long month. However, I did notice that she is much more civil and compliant. For now.