Being grounded sucks, right? Read on and you will find out how to have fun even if you are forced to stay at home.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: If You Have Been Forbidden to Do Anything
Step 1. If you have time between getting home from school to when your parents get home, start thinking about what you can do in the evening, like reading a book or listening to music
If you want to stay out after school for a while, tell your parents that after class you have to stay for an interview with some prof.
Step 2. Hide your stuff
You know, parents will hide everything from you, iPod, cell phone and whatever else they can find. If you have a box or a shoe box, put your cell phone, iPod, Gameboy there and hide it all under the covers of your bed. This works best if you have thick blankets or duvets so look for a thick enough blanket just in case.
Step 3. If you miss something, such as swimming, cry, cry and hold your breath until hopefully your parents get tired and tell you:
"Ok, go ahead." Don't put too much hope in this method though. Its success depends on how manipulable your parents are, and if they aren't you will only end up making your situation even worse.
Step 4. If you are lucky and have a stereo in your room, they may seize the plug (if it is separable)
In this case, take the plug from your living room stereo or a television to still have your music with you. They probably won't try to hide the entire stereo from you (this is because the parents seem to enjoy seeing that you didn't notice something is missing, so they wouldn't be hiding something that big from you) but if they do, or have done so in the past, hide your CDs and your iPod to prevent them from finding them.
Step 5. Hide a CD player (which you can buy for cheap at a flea market, and which is small enough to easily hide) if you use CDs, and use it at night to prevent your parents from catching you in the act
Be careful not to buy one with the keys too loud but your parents, if they have super hearing, could still hear when you open / close the CD door or when you press the keys if you are not careful.
Step 6. If and when your parents leave the house, use that time to watch TV, but remember which channel they turned it off
Step 7. Use the computer secretly if you can
.. but remember to hide all traces! You can also use computers at school if you want, but remember that some schools don't allow you to use computers for anything other than education.
Step 8. Stay up late and secretly watch TV - on this site you will find many guides on how to stay up late
Step 9. If you have a video camera, you can take videos of you dancing silly songs and upload them to YouTube when you are no longer grounded
Step 10. If you don't have a video camera, dancing to the silliest songs is still the funniest thing you can do on your own, just look in the mirror to have fun
Step 11. Write something on the bathroom mirror using a bar of soap
Things like, "Help! I'm being held hostage by adults!" they will make your parents smile and soften their positions.
Step 12. Turn things upside down
Are there any photographs on the living room shelf? Put one upside down. Hang up the calendars, in short, use your imagination.
Step 13. Invite your friends when your parents aren't around
Use your sister's or brother's cell phone if yours has been kidnapped.
Step 14. When your parents are away, take your things back and use them until they come back, but remember to put them back exactly where they were and leave no traces
Method 2 of 3: If You Have Only Been Banned From Seeing Your Friends
Step 1. Play sports, go to your city hall to swim or use the gym
A monthly membership may be worth it, and some gyms will give you the discount if one of your parents is already a member. If you don't want to spend money, go for a run or long walks (especially if you have a dog)
Step 2. It probably doesn't sound funny to you, but do the housework
Just make sure the house is clean when your parents get home, maybe wash the car or do some other big work. It is something that should be done anyway, and your parents could reduce your sentence for good behavior.
Step 3. Kitchen
Start with something simple like cupcakes and if you are in detention for a long time you can get to make more complex dishes until you get pretty good. DO NOT leave the kitchen in a mess or your parents will not be happy with it.
Step 4. Build objects
If you have some manual skills, build something with waste materials. Alternatively, if you are good with needle and thread, arrange clothes that no longer fit or use the scraps to create a pillow or something else.
Step 5. Play
Play with cards, with video games, with your old toys from when you were small.
Step 6. Read
Step 7. Study or review
If you are grounded for bad grades, see if you can do something to change the situation. If your grades go up, your parents will likely overrule the punishment.
Step 8. Watch TV or some movie
Watch a lot of movies, if you don't have them on DVD you can always watch them online. Watch the old cartoons you loved so much as a kid. If you have box sets from any series, check them out. Otherwise, watch what's on TV.
Step 9. Redecorate your room
If your room isn't in its best days, move the furniture, stick posters and photos on the wall, or make a collage to hang with photos, concert tickets you've been to and the like.
Step 10. Sleep
Use this extra time to catch up on lost sleep and laze all day. I don't recommend that you do this every day, however.
Step 11. Find some new hobbies
For example, if you are a motorcycle enthusiast, buy old parts of an engine and try to rebuild it. If your hobbies are closer to knitting or similar, try doing more difficult things and maybe making sweaters or other garments.
Step 12. Pamper yourself
It's more for girls, but boys can follow this advice too. Take a long bath instead of a shower. Care for your nails, wear a face mask and all.
Step 13. If you are in detention during the screening period, make sure you do any assignments to be delivered on time
Method 3 of 3: Stop Seeing It As a Punishment
Step 1. Think about why you did the things that got you grounded
Realize that youth ends quickly, and that perhaps being forced to stay at home is not exactly punishment. Perhaps it is an opportunity to reflect, and to acquire certain habits that will make both your parents and yourself proud of you.
Step 2. Write a list of reasons why it is worth improving and stop getting into trouble
Step 3. Put yourself in your parents' shoes, and realize that they probably felt the need to put you in detention because you didn't follow their rules
Step 4. Focus on your hobbies and do the things that make you feel good about yourself
Learn from your mistakes. Make your parents proud by making them aware that you have learned from your mistakes.
Advice
- If your parents have forbidden you to leave your room and you are bored, when you leave the room, hide something in the sweatshirt, like your DS or something.
- If your parents have kidnapped your computer, and you want to go online, use your DSi or your iPod touch, if they haven't kidnapped them too. If you have nothing else, use your cell phone, if you have WiFi and it has not been requisitioned.
Warnings
- Don't use Facebook if you have your parents among your friends, or they'll find out.
- If you get caught sneaking out while in detention, you will make things a lot worse. Watch out.
- If they catch you lying when they ask you something like, "Did you use your cell phone while we were gone?", You will be punished even more severely.
- If you get caught, you might say, "Well, at least I haven't left the house."
- Getting caught could mean being put in detention for even longer, but this time they will seize a lot more things from you, including CDs and other things you could have spent your time with.
