The Ugly Truth

Discipline can be a challenge. This isn't news to anyone that has kids, knows someone that has kids or has stood in line at the store next to someone that has kids. Different people meet the challenge in different ways. In our house, a conscious effort is made to avoid spankings. These are reserved for only the most serious offenses (i.e. removing your seatbelt in a moving car, running away from me in a parking lot, etc.). It has never made sense to me to spank a child for hitting. Aren't you saying "You can't hit, but I can." in doing so? Alright, off the soapbox and back to the story ...
In our house, time-out is a frequent punishment. We have a designated time-out area. However, rarely does someone occupy the spot willingly. On a particularly rough day, Miss Diva was fast approaching another trip to time-out. Upon being warned of this, her mouth only served to speed her arrival.

It went something like this:
Me: "Keep it up and you will go back to time-out."
Diva: "No! I'm not going!"
Me: "Did you just tell me no?"
Diva: "I'm not going to time-out. You're a mean Mommy! You're being ugly!"
Me: "I'm done. Go to time-out, now!" *heading towards her direction to hasten the process*
Diva: "No Momma! No! You're not that ugly Momma! You're not that mean! Momma, you're not that ugly!"

Do you know how hard it is to carry out a punishment when trying not to laugh? I am so relieved to learn I am not as ugly as once feared ... apparently still ugly, but not THAT ugly.