Reimbursement

Reimbursement is a concept I came across by accident. I think it is a very logical consequence that can have more of an impact than being punished. After the following incident I was reminded how mean I was making my kids reimburse when the other kids involved didn't.

When Chloe and Michael were 8 and 6, they were playing in a paddocks behind our house with a friends three boys C - aged 10, B - aged 9 and A - aged 8. The paddocks are connected to the paddocks under gondolas.

Anyway my friend and I had a cuppa and a chat (1 1/2 hours) then she wanted to go home so we went to find the kids, we couldn't see them but weren't too worried because they always returned from their adventures amongst the paddocks and hedges). My friend went home and the plan was to send her kids home (they lived around the corner) when they reappeared.

Well! imagine my surprise when 5 minutes later a police car pulled up and my two angels hopped out, and three more angelic faces were in the back seat.

Mr Policeman then said, "The children walked up to the top of the Gondolas and the people in the cafe gave them a milkshake because they were hot from their climb then asked them to leave via the gondolas. C said "no we want to stay" and in the end they rang the police to come and get them to leave. So I went up and bought them down in the gondola's."

As you can imagine I apologised profusely then got the kids to go to their rooms so I could think about what to do.

Ultimately I got them to write three letters of apology and thanks for their help - one to the policeman, one to the cafe ladies and one to the Gondolas management. I made them pay (out of their pocket money) for the gondola ride and milkshake.

Footnote: they were also no longer allowed in the paddocks without Sarah or Jaimie.