Thanks, Tahd

I took Gabe to his 5-year exam yesterday.  Let’s not mention the fact that he turned 5 about 2 months ago, mkay?

While there, the doctor asked him TONS of questions.  He was practically climbing the walls, and I think she asked him extra questions to help keep him focused on something other than deafening me by crawling all over the crisp white paper cover the exam paper.  Seriously.  My ears will never be the same.  That stuff is LOUD!

Anyway, at one point she asked him what he has to do when he gets in trouble.  She asked him if he had to go to time out or sit in his room.

He interrupted her and said, “No, I have to sit on the steps or go to my room or mercy.”

Mercy?

What the heck?

I had no clue what he meant, but all I could imagine was a gruesome movie where a prisoner cowers in the corner begging for mercy while the guard beats the snot out of him with some sort of torture device.  I was beyond horrified.  Mercy?  Who uses “mercy” as a discipline technique???

Apparently my husband, that’s who.

I relayed this story to him when he got home last night, and he nearly dislocated an arm patting himself on the back for the great job he’s done in disciplining Gabe.  When I pressed him for an explanation, he said that sometimes he doesn’t give Gabe any consequences and he explains to Gabe that he’s showing mercy for not giving Gabe the punishment he deserves.

Does this strike anyone else as wrong on so many levels???

Grace, maybe, but mercy, no.  You have to think ahead to the things your child might say.  In public.  To others.

I suggested this terminology change and he began to look a little chagrined.  He agrees, too.  Perhaps using the term “mercy” when disciplining a preschooler isn’t quite appropriate.

So thanks, Tahdie, for what may have become one of the most mortifying moments of my life.  There’s a chance I may never be able to show my face at that pediatrician’s office again.