Had to ground Julia tonight...

So Julia was out with BFF tonight. We had told her that she was supposed to be home at 8:30. We had her put on a watch to make sure she was aware of the time. She did show up a little late, about 8 minutes, but at least she showed up pretty much on time.

When she got here, she asked me if BFF could stay and play. I did say she could stay for a bit, but then about 30 minutes later, I told her that BFF had to go home.

BFF asked Julia if she wanted to go to the park with her.

"Sure!" Julia said and started to head upstairs.

"Whoa!" I protested.

"What?" Julia asked.

"Get back here! I didn't say you could go to the park."

Julia gave me a sad face.

Then proceeded a few minutes of pleading (on Julia's part) and lots of "No"s (on my part).

Finally, Julia asked if she could just ride with her home.

I said okay as long as she was back in 10 minutes.

...

40 minutes later, I hopped in my car and went around the neighborhood to see where she was. I checked the park she usually hangs out at (about 4 blocks away). She wasn't there.

So I went down to the other park (4 blocks from the first park). This time, I spotted her. She was with BFF.

I rolled down the window and declared, "You're in trouble."

When she got home, I told her that she was grounded because this wasn't the first time that she told me one time and then proceeded to come back at another time. Each time, she says she's sorry, but this time, I felt I needed to make a statement.

The punishment was one of two choices: no TV or video games all day tomorrow or no BFF tomorrow.

Surprisingly, Julia chose no BFF.

Laura and I are no strangers to getting grounded. I've even gotten the no TV grounding. I'll have to save a grounding story for another day, though...