Involuntary Cussing Face

My daughter is a genius at giving the stink eye. She was born with the ability to give nasty looks that make people want to shrink into the carpet. We've decided it's gotta stop; its a bad habit that reflects a bad attitude and disrespect. So we've named it. You've gotta name a thing before you can tackle it head on. We've called it her "involuntary cussing face" because she insists that she never MEANS to do it. (parental side note: "whatever"). Anyway, when that look crosses her face we reply with, "Oh look its the involuntary cussing face. I wonder what bad words she's using on the inside. She must be a good cusser because the look on her face is really disrespectful." Sometimes we even call it the ICF for short. My daughter HATES this. HATES. HATES. HATES. She also a master at being passive aggressive and when her ICF fails to get under our skin and hurt our feelings its annoys her. We render the ICF powerless. Then we make her practice responding respectfully with her words, her tone of voice and her body language (including the infamous ICF). I even have a little jingle or two I break into about ICF and disrespect. It is SOOO not appreciated by our little darling because it makes her laugh. She's trying to be pissy and mean; laughing ruins her shtick.

I was well and truly convicted that "anger does not bring about the righteousness of God". That wisdom applies to parenting. Anger might change a child's behavior while you're watching, but it cannot change a heart. Heart change is the only way to bring about right behavior when no one is looking. So instead of harsh words and stiff consequences (born of my own irritation) we're aiming for good acronyms, humor, melodic little ditties, and a chance to make it right.