When Your Daughter Thinks You Are Dumber Than A .... pile of rotten peaches?

I've been thinking a lot lately -- lots of thinking, about how to deal with my daughter that thinks that I am dumber than a pile of rotten peaches.  Why do I say a pile of rotten peaches?  Mostly because we have a small orchard and just finished picking all of our peaches.  We have them in our basement in several boxes.  Since we have lot of them, some start to rot before we can use them.  I do damage control periodically and take the rotten peaches out back to a compost pile.  Hence the rotten peaches.

My daughter lives by her mobile phone, as I am sure all of your daughters do.  She texts day and night.  She occasionally makes a voice call or gets one.  When this obsession with the mobile phone started to invade her homework time, I realized that something had to be done.  So I made some rules with which my daughter needed to obey in order to keep her mobile phone privileges.  We agreed on these rules and she signed a printed copy.

Some of these rules were like the following:

• Allow me to look at her phone anytime without putting up a fuss.
• Stop texting when eating dinner and other family activities.
• Stop using her phone at 8pm on school nights.
• etc.

I recall when I was younger, my parents would take my car driving privileges away from me when I disobeyed them.  (That happened a lot and hurt.)  Over time the pain became so great that I became a textbook example of obedience!  So, the consequence of my daughter disobeying the contract she signed was to lose her phone for a week.

The next evening, I was up in my sons room feeding the fish at 9pm when I hear my daughter talking on her cell phone in her room.  I casually walk over and knock on the door.  I hear a hurried, "I've got to go, bye."  Then nothing.  I open the door and she has pulled her covers over he head and ignores my asking her if she is awake.

The next morning I present her will the information of the last night and she denies it.  I tell her to stop lying and to let me have her phone.  So a week without her phone starts.  Now you see where the title to this blog comes from.

My daughter and I have since had several situations like the one mentioned above.  She still seems to think that I am as stupid as a pile of rotten peaches, but maybe one day (sooner than later) she will get it.  She has lost her phone several times for breaking rules of the contract, but she is getting better.  Maybe she will eventually believe that I am kinda smart in what I am teaching and telling her.

Till Next Time,

Bill