Swiper NO Swiping!

Madeline has really been struggling lately with the Easter candy.  I put it out in these decorative flower pot thingies I have. Madeline has been sneaking it for days now and then she usually lies to me as to why her breath smells like chocolate or gum.  I am seriously finding little wrappers in all these nooks and crannies in the house.  So stealing is a pretty serious offense in this house, but lying is even worse.  Madeline gets a spanking for lying, she knows this, but yet her little 3 year old mind keeps doing it.  Our spanking routine involves asking her if she knows what she did wrong (she always knows), then she has to match her hands on to the paper handprints on the side of our bar in the kitchen.  Then she gets a spanking and I talk to her about what she did and why she isn't allowed to do it. Madeline is a squirmer though.  She has a very hard time matching her hands to the handprints because she doesn't want to stop guarding her hiney.  Well, her newest thing is that she will stop right in the middle of all the squirming and put her hand in the stop position (like to my face) and very seriously say "Swiper, no swiping, swiper noooooo swiping!"  How can I not laugh when she does that?  It is so funny.  Ryan had to give her a spanking last night (yes, the poor girl has really been testing her boundaries lately) and after he was done he came in to me and said "why does she think that telling me Swiper, no Swiping is going to help?"

Julie