Worth It

BANG.

"WAAAAAHH"

Carter walks by me as I'm on my way to discover the source of the crying (even though I'm pretty sure I already know what happened) and as we pass in the kitchen he looks right at me and states matter-of-factly, "I pushed Grant." He continues on his way and sits himself down in time out.

And I just know he's thinking, "Do your worst, woman! I can do two minutes standing on my head and I enjoyed EVERY SECOND of pushing my brother!" (Insert image of smug, bratty child here.)

Opening the fridge, throwing his toys, taking down the gate, antagonizing the dogs...he thinks its all worth it!

During the commission of an offense he'll actually say to me "If you do that you'll get a time out."

Oh, soooo, you know that and yet you're still gonna go for it? Huh. Anything I can do to change your mind? No? Well, OK then.

Or sometimes I'll enter the room and survey the scene while he watches my every move. When I notice the gate is down he'll calmly hit me with the ever popular "What did I tell you about touching the gate!"

Guess I say that a lot, and just look at what a difference its making! Not only does he know exactly what he's not supposed to do, but he can also recite the full sentence from memory! He's so advanced.

Is this type of toddler pathology treatable? With something other than time out, that is.

Today I tried the old make the punishment fit the crime routine. He threw a puzzle, and I made him pick it up. Which meant he had to do the puzzle. So I basically forced him to play with his toys as a way to deter behavior. So, yeah....

Clearly time out is making a big impression on him. What an effective discipline tool! Thank you, Supernanny!