I know he's not yet two, but believe me, he knows what he's doing (as evidenced by the fact that the most egregious infractions occur when something else is taking my attention from him). I also know that things are going to be worse for a few days because he's had constant attention for the past 2 weeks. Seriously though, I need some help. Any creative ideas for bending, but not breaking, a stubborn toddler's will?
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
A cry for help
My dad tells me that not even I was as stubborn as my son. Most days we flit through activities with a few stern "no"s and a handful of mommy looks. Then there are the time out days. And then, there are days like today. Today I discovered that timeout is really code for "lay on the couch and giggle every time mom looks my way." This infuriates me. After the 5th time telling T to stop getting into my bag, I decided to try something my sister hated, putting him in a corner. While this seemed to work somewhat better, I think it's just a matter of time until this tactic, too, is an opportunity for glee.
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6 comments:
As Ryan may recall, Our default comment was "That is not acceptable." (in a very stern voice) However, I don't recall if we started using it under age 2. They call it terrible 2's for a reason. That doesn't make my grandson bad, of course. He is just testing his boundaries and asserting his independence. The more solid those boundaries are, the more secure he is. (James Dobbson) Only you can decide if adding a swat on the hand or bottom is effective discipline. I hear the manual is coming sometime soon. (I can't define "soon")
Love you all.
There is always good old prevention of the naughtiness, most little guys can be easily re-directed with other fun stuff, or even mommy doing something out of the ordinary (pull out those funny faces) Although from what I see with T he really remembers what it is he wants to check out and might just get back to it after the distraction. My experience is with the 4+ traumatized crowd though so I really have no idea what I'm talking about!
When you're at the library, look for Dr. James Dobson's book on strong-willed children. His philosophy is not to break his spirit, but to work with his willfulness. Good luck. I'll be praying for you while cleaning sticky finger prints off my glass doors and windows.
You could squirt him with water or canned air. Or make loud noises when he jumps on the counter.(Sorry, all I've got are cats...)
For Becky: we've also tried packing tape sticky side up (at least it is VERY entertaining)!
Awesome.
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