Am I the Only One...

...who despises "grounded"?

I won't go into details, as they are not mine to tell, however Mini-Me is definitely grounded.

I hate being the warden.
Not only does grounding cripple the child's fun, but am I the only one who finds it cripples fun for the rest of us?  Am I the only one who's heart aches for the fact that the kid is totally & completely missing out?  Therefore I try to plan things that are lower on the fun-scale 'cause I don't want her to totally miss out OR am finding myself making exceptions?  As in, "you're totally grounded missy, but we're going to this thing as a family so it doesn't count---especially since it's a BIG thing that's been on our family calendar for months.  But you better believe you're STILL GROUNDED."  Really???

Am I the only one who has found that her room is too much fun and that a true, bona fide grounding would mean she would sleep on a mat in the garage since I can't seem to take every single thing that would be considered or suddenly morphed into fun away?


Also, am I the only one who, when the phrase "grounded!" crosses my lips is completely, confoundedly shocked at the instant shrug of her shoulders as a response?!  When I say, "Hand over the mp3 player, the digital camera; no more Wii, music, or movies..." and she says, "Ok.  No prob.  I figured," ...am I the only one who wants to scream to the rooftops, "THERE'S NO REMORSE, THIS IS SO NOT WORKING!"

Can't ground her from piano (I'm PAYING for that, AND we've finally got the ball rolling again).  Can't & shouldn't ground her from Mutual (church youth group is IMPORTANT).  Can you ground them from thinking or using their imagination?  No?  Darn.

Also, how long should grounding last?  Couple weeks?  A semester?  Their entire life?

I know, I am the worst parent, cause I can't entirely be a hard-nose about it, but I don't want to be cruel.  But, on the other hand, I want the lesson to be learned already.  What do I do, and how do I do "grounded" better?