The Dice of Doom: Fun with Discipline

As promised, here's the post on the Dice of Doom! To keep your home peaceful, you sometimes have to be a good disciplinarian. Though not technically a Wifey Wednesday post, the tone of your home is determined by you, the heart of the home. Here's a way to keep things lighthearted, even when the kids are coming loose at the seams.

The Dice of Doom

Dun-dun-Duuuuuunnnn!

This discipline device adds a bit of fun to the arsenal of Time-outs and revoked privileges and I can take no credit for it. It is a hand-me-down technique. A mother of seven gave it to me when she had four teenagers living at home.

Here's a scenario:

Kid one, overwhelmed with frustration, crosses the line and yells, "Get away from me!"
Kid two ups the anty and retorts, "You're a poophead!"
Every other kid in the house joins in a chorus of, "Oooo!" followed by, "Duh-duh-duhhhhhhhh!" Which is the ceremonial entrance song of the Dice of Doom.
Mom steps in, saying, "Dice of Doom, you two!" The Dice is brought out and rolled with kids begging for Mercy!

Let me explain what it is before I explain why it works so well.

What is it?
It's a box, covered with butcher paper. Written on five of the six sides is a boring housework task. On the sixth side is the word mercy.

Our five boring housework tasks are as follows:

1. Wipe windowsills
2. Mop a bathroom floor
3. Run the duster over everything
4. Dust baseboards 
5. Straighten up the family games shelf

My kids are small, so the tasks are small. We only do one room per dice roll. If you have bigger kids, you could adapt accordingly. Don't forget to add "Mercy!" to one of the six sides!

How do you use it?
This is a simple adaptation of a Time Out. Instead of standing in a corner, the child is given a task to accomplish. It is in addition to chores.

The child rolls the dice, you cheer them on, adding the chant, "Mercy! Mercy!" as you deem appropriate. The child accomplishes whatever task is required. At the completion of the task, forgiveness is asked and granted by all parties. If Mercy is rolled, mercy is granted: no task is given and all is forgiven in the moment.

When do you use it?
We use this whenever someone's dignity has been injured. When a child has forgotten to respect the authority of a parent by backtalk or eye-rolling, it is a good time to use it, but it is better used in cases of sibling squabbling. When a child has forgotten to respect the dignity of a sibling by aggravating, squabbling, shoving, name calling, or poking fun, it is mandatory. This entire set up is designed to intervene before fists or tears fly. It's an early intervention.

I don't use it all the time. Maybe once a week or so, if that. Frankly, I forget to use it or I don't have the wits about me to use it when I should. It's in the tool bag when I want to pull it out and it works.

How does it work?
First of all, this is a Time Out. Time Outs work by removing the child from the source of frustration. Second of all it provides for instant distraction and redirection and at the same time that the tasks are just physical enough to blow off a little steam. Thirdly, it completely resets the tone by replacing the "ritual" of an argument with another (slightly sillier) ritual to perform. Finally, justice is instantly and equitably served. Unless there is a clear cut case of pure and unadulterated innocence, all parties involved roll the dice.

Why is it fun?
Because you make it fun. You introduce it with all due pomp and circumstance. You show how each of the tasks will be performed. You model rolling the dice. You also model the begging and bargaining, "Mercy! Please let me get Mercy!" or "Not the mopping! ANYthing but the mopping!" Then model the appropriate reaction. "AAAuggghhh! Mopping!!" or "MERCY! Whew!" And sometimes, rarely, you roll it yourself.

"Whoops! I just blew it when I yelled at you. I'm sorry about that...Dice of Doom for mom!"

While the kids are working, I tend to "supervise." It's funny how when kids' hands are occupied, their mouths are freed. I have gotten to the root of more problems "listening in" on someone working on their Dice of Doom task.

It works for us. Well enough that I had to pass it along.

Over time this will cut down on the squabbling. It will increase the respect for siblings. It will also assist them in learning how to curb those impulses to unkindness that we are all tempted with. When Momma has a better day with the kids, she has more to give at the end of it.


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This has been a Wifey Wednesday Post. To have an even more Wifey Wednesday visit Sheila Wray Gregoire at To Love Honor and Vacuum.

Because it is Monday

...and we could all use some schooling in the epistolary arts as well as in effective methods to secure an interview while being charmingly damned to Hell.

For the full story click here for: Letters of Note: Damn you all to hell
(HT to Happy Catholic)

Damn you all to hell

In July of this year, in an admirable attempt to secure him as a guest on his Nerdist Podcast, Chris Hardwick sent a beautiful 1934 Smith Corona to noted typewriter collector Tom Hanks and popped the question. Within days, Hanks responded with the charming letter seen below, typed on the Corona.

Unsurprisingly, the anecdote-filled podcast that resulted is wonderful. It can be heard here.

Transcript follows.

(Source: Chris Hardwick; Image: Tom Hanks, via.)

Johnny Cakes (Cornmeal Pancakes) A Wheat Free Alternative

These Johnnycakes are so easy to whip up and add to a breakfast or brunch that I have the recipe penciled in at the bottom of my pancake recipe. We have wheat allergies in our family, so we know how handy it is to have good tasting alternatives to certain standards like pancakes or waffles.

This is one of those dishes that you'll likely need to make plenty of. Though technically a side dish or a substitution, it's good enough to be a main player.

Not the best picture, but these are them! You can see the browning
and the indents of my fingers!

Johnnycakes

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk

I like to mix all the ingredients and soak the batch overnight. The texture is simply better that way, but that step is not required. Just mix it up, shape the batter in your hand (it's akin to making a sand pie on the beach, gritty and damp) and fry it on a hot, greased griddle until firm with some browning. Flip.

We serve ours drizzled with honey.

That is indeed one cool cook!

Meanwhile, this is all I've been up to today, playing in the kitchen with this guy. That's four loaves of oat bread cooling up there. 

P.S. Don't let the little white Kitchen Aid fool you. I used the industrial mixer under the counter and under the pink shroud to get those loaves done. A nice lady retiring from her pizza business let us buy it from her. Don't you just love Craigslist?

Sublime Saturday

A touch of a cold is knocking my socks off, or sneezing them off actually, so I needed a little boost to get through my Saturday. Along comes Tamara, my friend from Facebook and real life. She shared this with me and I am sharing it with you.

I don't think I ever prayed this prayer before. I mean, I've prayed it thousands of times, but never with such longing as this.

"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace..."



Thanks, Tammy! I needed that.

7 Quick Takes: Conversion of Saint Paul and Marching for Life

--1--

A few days ago, a stained glass artist named Rachel Curling emailed me and gave permission to use this piece of stained glass beauty in order to help celebrate today's Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

Stained glass image courtesy of www.StainedGlassInc.com

This piece was created in honor of the event and the feast day. It captures that moment when Paul is confronted with Christ's voice and answers his call to conversion with the words, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do!" He humbly surrenders, as the image denotes. You can see his "Yes!" in his very body. He is completely open to the will of the Christ. That same Christ he had not recognized as his Messiah. The same Christ he was persecuting by attacking His body, the Church. This is a profound moment for Paul, for the Church as well, but let us not forget that Paul's conversion is an important window into our own continual call to conversion and deeper union with Our Lord, too. We need to take it personally!

Like Mary, like you or I, like anyone who has answered that call to conversion, Paul could have refused. Like Paul as Saul, we do Him harm. We may not hold any coats while Christians are killed, but every sin has a painful effect upon our world, ourselves, and our God. Each sin needs repentance, each sinner conversion, with each and every sin.

It is too easy to contemplate a life like his from this end of History. We take such faith as a matter of course. Of course he goes blind and on his way. Of course Paul is Baptized in Damascus by the very people he had planned on persecuting. Of course he writes, speaks, and converts Christians in his time and to this very day. He's Paul. Everybody knows him!

What we tend to forget is that he had no guarantees that those wary Christians would ever trust him. He was Saul, the man who took part in the very first Christian martyrdom. This man helped kill Saint Stephen! Saul's reputation proceeded him whenever he went among Christians. A yes to Christ meant he would be outlawed by his current friends and by all the authorities in power, Jewish and Roman. A yes meant he would have to trust the Christians and be humbled by his past actions. Christ didn't make any guarantees and Paul said yes. As far as he knew, Christ might have had in mind for him a glorious martyrdom in Damascus at the hands of just about anyone.

Yet Paul never hesitates. He gives his fiat as soon as he understands Who is behind the voice. What trust, what surrender that is! Blinded, he journeys to his fate as a new convert to a persecuted faith.

As you look upon this artwork, would it not be a dazzling wonder to ask God for a turning away from your misguided roads, just like His servant Paul. Even the smallest mite of such a moment, even in a more ordinary life, would be miraculous.

--2--

Who doesn't know the story of Saint Paul's conversion? It's worth a look, again and again, year after year. Here is one of the readings for today that you could hear if you were blessed enough to attend a Mass.

Acts 22: 3-16
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

"On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
I replied, 'Who are you, sir?'
And he said to me,
'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?'
The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.'
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
'Saul, my brother, regain your sight.'
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
'The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.'"

--3--

I am going to interview the stained glass artist Rachel Curling on the Podcast next month, so stayed tuned for details!

--4--

2013 March for Life is Underway

Image Source: A Slice of Smith Life blog
Out in the cold and damp and marching for Life!

--5--

Tracy Smith, blogger at A Slice of Smith Life, was gracious enough to share the above photo from last year's cold and damp March for Life (2013's is cold and snowy). She is a veteran of several Marches and has archived her photos and videos of the last few years. Go take a look and see how exciting the March for Life can be. I've only managed to attend our local events, which are smaller but wonderfully exciting. Just imagine the DC March with a hundred thousand marchers with you! Visit Tracy's blog to catch a glimpse of the awesomeness that is the March for Life!

--6--

The Pope Tweeted the Marchers!

Source: Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Jan 25, 2013 / 10:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict has sent a Twitter message expressing his solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of people marching in America this week for a culture of life and an end to abortion.

“I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life,” he tweeted Jan. 25.

to continue reading, click here

--7--

Today is my Fast Once a Week for Life day. I am so happy to have my fasting day coincide with the March for Life today. My heart and my small sacrifices and prayers go out to all the women who have had an abortion.

Peace to you, sisters.