When my kids were about 12 & 17 there was a period of time that all they did was whinge. From dawn till dusk all you heard was complaint after complaint It was like they had re-verted to the terrible twos & were acting like a pair of spoilt brats...

Now... sometimes I can have a rather unorthodox approach when it comes to raising my own kids. Who knows, perhaps during this period I had a minor nervous breakdown... (That’s my excuse anyhow.) The following is an account of how I somehow rectified a situation that was spiralling out of control... miraculously this weird solution worked.

Late one Sunday afternoon after spending the entire day preparing a special roast dinner complete with a delicious dessert we sat down to eat. The table was elaborately set, complete with wine glasses, silverware, fresh flowers... It looked beautiful... I decided this particular day to allow everyone to serve themselves so serving dishes; ladles & tongs were all placed on the centre of the dining room table.

As was customary in our household 'grace' had to be said before anyone was allowed to help themselves to food. Once grace had been said the family commenced serving themselves. I sat quietly observing as the kids kept antagonizing one another; during this time I did not put anything on my own plate, rather I just waited for them to finish helping themselves.

When everyone had settled down, I reached forward to select some food for myself...

Tearing off large strips of roast beef with my bare hands I flung meat onto my plate; Roast potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, corn & peas were easily scooped up using my fingers as was the handful of gravy which i so deftly smeared over my meal.

The family just sat there in shock, as they had never seen me behave in this manner before.

Next I went to the refrigerator, picked out a family size bottle of soft drink & proceeded to drink my fill directly from the bottle... I told them I didn't want to share & if they wanted some they could get it themselves... by this stage they were looking at one another, clearly disturbed by my behaviour.

When I'd finished my corn, I threw the corncob onto the floor along with whatever else i hadn't eaten off my plate... Still the family watched... the looks on their faces made my day. My husband tried to talk to me & I covered my ears; Shaking my head & acting like a spoilt child I declared that I didn't want to listen to him... 'why can't I eat the way I want to' I exclaimed, 'everyone else in this house does what they want, today it is my turn'.

When I finished eating I left the table, went into the lounge & proceeded to rip up magazines, screw the paper into tiny balls then throw them all over the floor... What a mess!

Well, my children ate their dinner quickly without a whimper from that moment on... when they had finished they got up, cleared the table, washed, dried & put away the dishes without being asked, went & cleaned both the lounge & their own rooms. They behaved like angels for the rest of the evening. Before they went to bed, they came to me & apologised for the way they had been acting. You know, from that day, they never acted like spoilt brats again. 

The moral of the story... well, I don't know if there is a moral, but sometimes I have found the answer to our problems can come from the most unexpected sources. My little exhibition on childish behaviour seemed to pay off in this case, sometimes we need to look outside the box for the solutions to the various dilemmas we face.