Let the punishment fit the crime? Sure, sounds like a great idea, but how about letting the punishment result directly from the crime? I’m a big fan, actually, of restitution and making things right. So when handwriting appears on the wall, there is no reason for screaming and shouting, no fussing and crying, and it’s certainly not necessary to punish the short people. They’ve already punished themselves enough, whether they’ve realized it yet or not.

Their greatest misery results directly from their own misdeeds. The more they color, the more there is to scrub from the walls, and all of the good things in life come to a screeching grinding halt until they correct their mistake. Then it’s promptly back to business as usual, running, climbing, and playing as children should.

I respond to them as a lock to find the right key for. Things happen sequentially around home, like a video game. If they don’t proceed successfully through the first thirty minutes of the day, what’s the use of skipping ahead until they’ve mastered the preliminaries?