Discipline
Colleen and I have been discussing this for the past couple of days. How do you discipline a toddler. A child under the age of 2 or 3? One that barely has verbal skills yet?
You know, they tell you how hard the midnight feedings are going to be, how hard labor may be, how the sleep deprivation is gonna hurt, but they don't tell you that the hardest thing of all is trying to tell a 15 month old that she shouldn't be pinching, biting, hitting, kicking and you better get your butt off that window sill now, young lady. Nope, nothing about how hard it was going to be - I mean, that might have been the deal breaker had we known how hard discipline was going to be.
Oh, the kid is smart. Smarter than we should have to deal with, because we just aren't that smart. She knows how to push the buttons. We have tried a "naughty spot." We have picked the bottom step and we sit her there for about a minute. She will get up from that spot and within second go back to doing the same darn thing we put her in the naughty spot for. This can go on for a half an hour to an hour...depending on the amount of fun she is having driving her parents crazy! And, don't think we don't realize that she is doing this to get her kicks! She never smiles so brightly!
Some days, we think we hit the mark. Most days, it's just tiring. We have been trying to be consistent, we have tried to keep from yelling, and yes, she has had a swat on the butt occasionally (we have been trying not to at this point...that darn butt has got too much padding right now anyway!). I think we need to be more consistent in what we are doing, yes, but how long do you allow bad behavior to continue before you need to do something else??
Any tips for two tired parents? What did any of you try to discipline your children? Do I have to stick around for her teen years? And, will the Phillies EVER WIN??
You know, they tell you how hard the midnight feedings are going to be, how hard labor may be, how the sleep deprivation is gonna hurt, but they don't tell you that the hardest thing of all is trying to tell a 15 month old that she shouldn't be pinching, biting, hitting, kicking and you better get your butt off that window sill now, young lady. Nope, nothing about how hard it was going to be - I mean, that might have been the deal breaker had we known how hard discipline was going to be.
Oh, the kid is smart. Smarter than we should have to deal with, because we just aren't that smart. She knows how to push the buttons. We have tried a "naughty spot." We have picked the bottom step and we sit her there for about a minute. She will get up from that spot and within second go back to doing the same darn thing we put her in the naughty spot for. This can go on for a half an hour to an hour...depending on the amount of fun she is having driving her parents crazy! And, don't think we don't realize that she is doing this to get her kicks! She never smiles so brightly!
Some days, we think we hit the mark. Most days, it's just tiring. We have been trying to be consistent, we have tried to keep from yelling, and yes, she has had a swat on the butt occasionally (we have been trying not to at this point...that darn butt has got too much padding right now anyway!). I think we need to be more consistent in what we are doing, yes, but how long do you allow bad behavior to continue before you need to do something else??
Any tips for two tired parents? What did any of you try to discipline your children? Do I have to stick around for her teen years? And, will the Phillies EVER WIN??
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