Up until now parenting has been about loving, hugging, changing diapers and being consumed with worry pertaining to "how much" and "what" your child is ingesting.
But suddenly, without any warning...the little blob of pink flesh turns into a little human.
A human with thoughts, desires, OPINIONS and ideas that may or may not coninside with your own.
I knew that eventually parenting would mean discipline. It would mean setting boundaries and expectations. Shaping behavior and guiding a little person. I just didn't know it would also mean needing a glass of WINE!
Daddy and I are at the precipice of needing to have a behavior plan.
Dylan is very well behaved and so far we've only needed to redirect his undesirable behavior ( i.e. touching light sockets, throwing his milk cup, chasing the kitties) into desirable behaviors (i.e. petting the kitties, placing his milk cup on the table, and avoiding dangerous electricity).
But i want to be READY for swift action. He understands everything we say now, so it's only a matter of time before he just simply decides he doesn't want to listen!
Our plan is simple.
One warning to stop the bad behavior or he'll go to time-out.
Then he gets a count of 1, 2, 3.
If we get to 3 he goes to time out for 1 and 1/2 mins.
I have a feeling we'll be doing this over and over until he understands that he must stay for the full time limit.
Of course, this depends completely on Daddy's ability not to be a softy.
In our house, I used to be the strictest disciplinarian and Wayne was the biggest softy ever.
ReplyDeleteAdd time and age and we've changed positions.
Parenting is hard and we must add wine to soften the blow every now and then!
Let me know how it goes. Where is time out? Is it in a fun chair parked in front of the tv? I saw some "time out" chairs that were just too cute to be a punishment at the Homegoods the other day. I am sure poor ella will be stuck somewhere BORING when the time comes.
ReplyDeletemy theory is that you need to be able to do time out anywhere...so a chair/bench wouldn't work. So i'm going to choose a boring corner where ever we are. Still haven't used my technique yet. It's nerve racking!
ReplyDelete