The Princess Deprogramming Manual

[dancerjodi]

It has been about 20 years since I was grounded for ruining a pizza by carrying it on its side. My parents thought that I had done it on purpose and didn't like my attitude. I'll admit that I had an attitude, but I really was that dumb and didn't think anything about carrying a pizza on its side under my arm (who knew the cheese would all drip down to one end?!). I stormed upstairs to my attic bedroom after dropping the pizza on a table to have my Mom run up after, screaming at me about how she had the power to make my life a living hell and was going to do her best to do that. Dad was so angry that he couldn't even look at me, else he'd 'kill me dead'. Later that night I was given this book, which would dictate my activities for the next month or so. It was truly, truly painful.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/sets/72157620508729144/

Comments

[thenetimp.livejournal.com]

Wow... that's nuts.

[alonewiththemoon]

I note however that none of the "Done" boxes are checked off ;-)

But wow, it does seem like overkill.

[leilaland.livejournal.com]

Yipes. This is going to sound weird, but I'm envious. I can't imagine how much better equipped to deal with life I would have been if my parents had devoted that much time and energy to me.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

holy crap! how do you feel about all of this, looking back?

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

You know, all I can think is "it didn't work on Cinderella either".

[tiamatlady]

AHAHAHahHAHAHA! If that were handed to me World War Three would have started, beginning and ending with the statement "YOU ARE SO UNFAIR!"

That's awesome. I think I would have busted a nut about no stereo/music. I read a lot but HOLEE SHIT bored!

And you wear your own clothes! LOL

[roaming.livejournal.com]

heh. I'd have handed my parents the bill for all the psychotherapy I would have needed after something like this.

Did you eventually think it "fair"? Or did you think you parents were being "mean" to you? It does seem awfully strict, given the "crime." So you made a pizza mistake. This does seem kind of severe. But then, my mom was a pussy cat pushover, and I was always rebelling anyway.

[jhenaphere.livejournal.com]

whoah. Their reaction to your pizza mistake seems way over the top. I agree that sometimes adults misinterpret young kids/teenagers actions as trying to be disrespectful when the kid honestly really didn't know, but STILL - that reaction, even if they were convinced you did it out of disrespect, is way over the top.

And then the booklet is absurd. To even call it a "princess deprogramming manual". My parents often took my stereo away for a week or so, no phone, etc. but they wouldn't have done this booklet thing. My mother was a 2nd grade teacher for 30 years before she retired. She would have viewed this booklet thing as the parents being nuts.

[lsl.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's harsh.

Losing your tempter in the moment is one thing, but sitting down afterward and writing out a weeks worth of retribution and then following through on it for a month is something else entirely.

I hope your parents have calmed down in the last 20 years.

[christmasjedi.livejournal.com]

Ouch, that's harsh! Especially for an honest mistake. Reminds me of the times I got grounded for hitting my brother, who was lying through his teeth. Thank God, one day they finally witnessed him lying about my 'crime'. I was at one end of the house, he at another, parents in the middle. He just started crying and screaming that I'd hit him again. For the first time ever, he got grounded instead of me, and they actually *gasp* apologized to me for not believing me in the past! (Although I freely admit that after a while, I figured if I was going to get in trouble anyway, I might as well take a swing at him.)

My punishments usually involved chores or no tv, but they never lasted that long. Well, except when I got grounded for my car for 2 weeks for forgetting to clean the cat litter before I left for school. Instead, Mom usually just flew off the handle, screamed a lot, threw something at me or spanked me, and sent me to my room. Or, the punishment for not cleaning my room was to throw all of my belongings in a trash bag, hide the bag, and tell me she threw everything away. Man, you wouldn't believe the set of lungs I had as a child. (I had "the attitude" too!) These days, the neighbors would have been calling child services.

[zanylikethat.livejournal.com]

Wow.

I had a huge attitude problem as a kid, and I think my parents WISH they had come up with some sort of list like that. (Fortunately, I think I deprogrammed my own princessiness.)

I have to admit, though, that seems like quite a bit of overkill for letting the cheese slide to one side of a pizza. I mean, I am all for parents being a little bit stricter with their kids and holding them a little bit more accountable, but there is such a thing as going too far in the OTHER direction as well. It is, after all, just a pizza.

[sanguineempathy.livejournal.com]

WOAH ! Jeez ... I could maybe see making you work off the cost of the ruined pizza or something... but De-programming Manual ?~! Wow.

My sister once threw a fork @ me and it stuck in my neck... I don't think she was even grounded !

I guess it's a good thing you can look back at this with in some sort of humour....

[greylady.livejournal.com]

That's kind of funny.

Of course, my parents just did similar things for the words "I didn't think..." coming out of my mouth. Not thinking was the *only* sin.