Shocking... I know, but my beautiful, smart, silly, playful young son got in trouble today!
I referenced earlier this week that Joshua gets pretty jealous of Brenna, right? Well today his was constantly telling me, "Joshua no share (some toy or favorite food) with Brenna." Since Brenna was not around to share with, I would simply respond that "in our family we share."Well... first chance he got, he grabbed something from Brenna and screamed like everything when she tried to take it back. (Blessedly "normal" is it not?!)
So when he refused to give it back, he earned a spot in the booster chair.
At this point Joshua is both comfortable enough and confident enough with his spot in our family that we are able to discipline him in almost the same way we did the older kids at the same age. The difference is that when Joshua has a time-out we always keep him near to us. His time-out spot is not in his bedroom, but buckled into his booster chair in the middle of the kitchen (where I always seem to be). We do not interact with him while he is in time-out, even if he tries. However I do not remove him from the action because I want to continually reinforce that NOTHING he could say or do will separate him from our love.
Another difference is that after a time-out he needs lots and lots of snuggles to reassure him that we adore him even when he has made a mistake. I usually scoop him out of the booster chair and head straight for the rocking chair in his bedroom for a big snuggle as soon as he is ready to apologize for his actions. I tell him how proud I am that he said he was sorry! I remind him of something specific I appreciate about him, like how he helped me pick up toys or what a great cuddler he is. We snuggle until he is ready to get down and play!
Luckily, he has rarely needed a time-out. Most of the time redirecting his attention to something more appropriate does the trick!
Another thing that has worked well with Joshua is ignoring him. For instance, when I say no! he can not have or do something he will often keep asking me over and over again. If redirecting him to another activity does not distract him, often ignoring his request does. I have no desire to get into a power struggle with any of my kids, so if I said no and explained why(very briefly - too many words is asking for trouble!) I typically ignore their continued pleas. It is amazing how quickly he moves on when I refuse to continue discussing something.
I am happy to report more attitude daily around here! Happy because 3-year-olds are usually filled with attitude and my little guy is creeping up on three so filled with attitude is exactly how he should be!
