Monday, July 30, 2007

Pure Rebellion

I can remember asking my mom when Kylie was born how I'll know if she is disobeying because she truly doesn't know better, or because she's just testing her limits. Well, I've realized very clearly how obvious it is that she now absolutely knows right from wrong. And when she disobeys us, it's because she wants to know how far she can push her limits. We recently had new blinds put on the windows thruout our home. Initially we were concerned about a few low windows because we thought Buster would jump in them and break them. We should have been less concerned about Buster and more concerned about Kylie. On numerous occasions, she has walked up to the windows, turned to make sure that I'm watching her, and ever so slowly reached her hand out to touch the blinds. I simply walk up to her, say no, and slap her hand. She typically cries, not because I've hurt her, but because I've hurt her feelings, but gets over it quickly.



However, recently she has been doing this routine only instead of crying after I discipline her, she looks me square in the face again and touches it again, and again, and again. She does the same thing with opening cabinet doors and there's no question that she knows what she's doing. So, we've discovered a new discipline that works quite well, thanks to my mom. We now have a time out corner that we both go to. I tried this a few times with just her sitting, but I could never get her to sit still on her own and she started thinking it was a game. Well, now I sit down in the corner with her in my lap, facing out, and hold her arms close to me. She will sit for about 10 seconds, but after that, she starts squirming about and really doesn't like it. I count to 60 and it seems like forever sometimes, but I think we're finally starting to make progress. She'll let out screams of frustration at times and big sad tears at other times, but it's something that is portable and seems to really be working. It's something that she obviously doesn't like and is simple enough for me to do anywhere. We could be at a park, at a friend's house, or even at church. Anyplace there are floors or a chair, we are set.



Hopefully this will help me start giving direction to my obviously strong willed child. I'll update you on how it works, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for now!

5 comments:

B. Irv said...

Its amazing how early we all start to assert our own will. We are finding little Carolyn is testing our limits, and loves to do the things that are no no's... such as climb into the dogs crate to get at his food... She approaches, pauses, looks at you, you tell her "no no..." and then says "no no" back at you and dives right in. Hang in there and be consistent, it'll be worth it in the long run!

Anonymous said...

Totally understand! I felt like you were talking abut my little one :) I'll have to give that time out thing a try because the hand slaps aren't working all so often around here anymore!

The Prices said...

I'm definitely going to be trying this one! If AJ has any amount of his mom's stubborn genes, we're in for a crazy ride! Again... I am so glad Kylie is a bit older than our little man, that way we can just copy you guys. :)

The D's said...

Fantastic! I am so using your discipline technique when the time comes for Brody! By the way, I must applaude you for the consistency and drive to be a wonderful mom, even in the not-so-fun times. :)

The Parke Family said...

What a good idea! - Let s know how it works!