There are lessons to be learned

*This may or may not be a purely hypothetical situation. Just sayin'.*

Sometimes things blow up in your face. One night, your neighbors and good friends might have to come over and let you know that two of your children have been teasing their children. Of course, this is not something a mother and father wish to hear! Not at all. When this happens, you apologize profusely and you promise your friends that it isn't going to happen again. (Luckily, your friends are nice and are still your friends!) Then you talk to your two children who were having the problem, and you tell those two that, first of all, they will apologize. LIKE THEY MEAN IT. And then they will work it off. And I mean, work HARD. Here is a list of suggested chores for a case like this:

• weed every possible spot in the garden--not even a blade of grass can be left behind.
• mow the lawn
• edge the lawn
• pick up the lovely doggie leavings
• clean baseboards
• clean out closets
• clean out the house junk room 
• help organize the storage room

You might say something like this to the perpetrators: "It sounds like you have too much time on your hands, so for the rest of the week, you will not have time for ANYTHING except work. And when the work is done, you will not watch t.v. You will not play on the computer. You will read. Books. Good ones. That is all. Go to bed." (This could be a direct quote).