Consequences

My kindergarten students taught me early on that when giving choices I must be ready to follow through on either choice because sometimes they don't pick the one I would think.
The same holds true for kids in all countries.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving our Ford Ranger to church. In the truck with me were all the teenage boys. Right behind me was a 14-year-old boy...we'll call him Manuel. I told everyone to buckle up (a new law in Mexico) and Manuel just sat there. "Put on your seatbelt Manuel." I said.
He reached down next to himself on the seat and said, "I don't have one." Clever boy. It was a shoulder strap seatbelt, not just a waist strap.
"Higher up, " I told him to play along.
He reached to the ceiling... "No, no I don't have one."
At that point the game became annoying to me so I said, "You can buckle yourself or I can buckle you."
Now honestly, I figured a 14-year-old boy surrounded by other teenage boys would not want a 25-year-old girl to buckle him in. When he didn't budge I figured he would put it on as I climbed out of the truck. He would be too embarresed for me to actually buckle him in like a baby.
Boy was I wrong. I got out of the car, opened his door, took his seatbelt and buckled him in as he sat there.
That is why you should always be prepared to follow through on either choice you give a child. You never know when you might have to buckle in a 14-year-old boy.

**The funny thing; on the way home he again told me he didn't have a seatbelt. "Again?" I questioned him and he put on his seatbelt all by himself. We haven't had a problem since.