Lying, Stealing and Touchdowns

I think I have officially lost all control with my kids and today did nothing but affirm that my parenting needs to be questioned at best.

My day started by taking Dawson to school early to return the magnets to his teacher that he stole from class the day before. Yes, he took 7 blue star magnets, stuffed them in his pocket, came home, put them on the fridge, and apparently played with them for a while before I even noticed that they weren't ours. When I asked him where they were from, he plainly replied, "school." As if this is no big deal. This, of course, is coming from my son who five-fingered a Superman toy off the bus last year without their knowledge or mine and when I asked him if he took it, he told me, "Yep, I sneaked it in my backpack!" I do not know what to do about this either. Because Dawson is Dawson, I truly don't think he "gets" what he is doing. Not that that excuses it by any means, but I think that for him it is more about seeing what he can get away with than the actual stealing and wanting to keep of an object. This theory of mine is supported too by the fact that he has also brought home post-it notes with random information that his teacher has dropped on the floor.

So, I make it through that and then there is my dear Colton who seems to be testing the "little white lie" to the max. That child will not stop with the most ridiculous lies ever. They aren't big, the aren't about important stuff and yet he keeps telling them. Dumb things like not finishing everything to eat and throwing it away instead of just being honest. Or telling us he used the bathroom before football even though he didn't so he wouldn't be late to the game once we got there. Really minor and senseless things, but when do the little lies grow. I just feel out of control.

I feel so out of control, that tonight I once again earned my Mother of the Year award when I told my children that they could keep lying and stealing and maybe we could get them a shared room at the juvenile facility they will end up in. Seriously, I know it is not that bad. I just don't know where to go. I have spanked, I have pulled privileges, I even made Colton pay me for the food he lied about wasting and still I get no where.

Which leads me to tonight. By time we got to football, I was so frustrated I told Colton's coach he had to sit out the first 5 minutes of the game, to which his reply was, "Sorry, but this is my territory." So against my wishes and better judgment, Colton played the entire game and even scored the winning touchdown. Then we go to Dawson's game and he scored a touchdown too. It is so wonderful to watch the boys do something they love, to see how proud they are of themselves when they accomplish something great, to see them as part of a team. Now if I can just get everything else under control, it will all be fine. Right?