The Perfect Punishment

I've been searching for over six years for the perfect punishment for Grace when she behaves badly (like pulling Johnny's hair because we've run out of eggs) and I've finally found it: A New Year's Eve party full of grown-up and little Venezuelans, Mexicans, Germans, and Americans, tooting horns, screaming, laughing, eating, drinking, hugging, kissing, dancing, spilling, all in the final minutes of the year, counting down as the ball drops. For an overly tired 6-yr old girl who's highly sensitive to auditory input, this is pure torture. Next time she throws a book across the room, that hits me in the leg, because it's time for her to get off the computer, I'll tell her, "Grace if you do that ever again, I'll make you go to a New Year's Eve party for a long time."