Follow through

A friend of mine just grounded her daughter for 2 weeks. She had a project assigned a while back, and her daughter kept putting off working on it, and now it's due in 2 weeks, hence the grounding so she can get it done. Of course my friend also noted that she has just grounded herself, as she will have to stay home and follow through to make sure her daughter does indeed finish her project. Hence my comment to her, that follow through sucks. Yeah, sometimes it does. But I suppose every time I remember to follow through, it not only teaches my daughters that actions really do have consequences, but maybe something else too. Maybe the side lesson learned is that you should finish what you start. If I demonstrate that I can stick it out to the bitter end maybe it teaches my daughters follow through. It's a tricky lesson actually. I mean, there are times when you need to see something through to the end, and there are times when you have to learn when to let go and just put something away. Like when you're reading a book that someone recommended but it's just not doing it for you. I used to force myself to finish such books, but since have realized that I have better things to do with my time, and really, what is the point of finishing it, other than being able to say, yeah, I read the whole thing and it sucked right to the end. Boo. Bad use of time. And it's true, occasionally in life people start in on a project of some kind, only to realize part way along that it's just not for them. What's the point for example, of finishing a 4 year degree in a subject you no longer care about, just for the sake of finishing? What would that get you? A load of debt, and again, wasted time. Same could said for a child who tries out a sport that they just don't enjoy, but continue to be expected to play season after season. What's the harm in letting them try something else, assuming that a fair amount of time and effort has been made in determining whether said sport is really for them? No harm as far as I can see, in fact it would be a shame to have them miss out on participating in something different that they might really like and excel at. Okay.
But school work is school work, it's one of those non negotiables in life. My daughter Kate recently procrastinated finishing some homework over the weekend, and was fairly horrified when I told her Monday that she would have to explain to her teacher why her work wasn't done. I even pulled her teacher aside and gave her a heads up about it. Which was a good thing, since when she asked Kate why her work wasn't done, Kate tried to tell her that her mom wouldn't let her finish it...wrong answer! So she had to miss out on extra play time and do her work instead. And in the end it all turned well, she did get it done, and then was picked to go and read the story she had written to the principal with a couple of the other kids, for a job well done.
Anyway, I'm sure there will many more opportunities to come for me to practice my follow through techniques with the girls. It's painful at times, but worth it!