So we’ve been blessed enough to have our little angel on this earth for two years. She’s smart, funny, beautiful and BAD. No but seriously, she’s been really testing her boundaries lately and constantly testing my patience in the process.
Mornings:
She’s not a morning person, which is no surprise because we aren’t morning people either. When I go to wake her up in the mornings, she covers her face with the covers and curls up in a ball so I can’t get her out of her pjs. Once we get through the initial irritation of waking up and getting dressed, we move on to hair (which seems to grow longer every week). I’m not really a hair girl but I take pride in doing her hair in the morning. She turns her head asking questions as I try to part it and always wants to brush herself right after I get her hair nice and pretty. Once we get in the car and head to daycare she begins her daily ritual of asking me where we’re going and for random snacks/desserts (the entire ride).
Evenings
She’s usually tired in the evenings and extremely moody. When I pick her up from daycare she either tries to rush me out the door (hubby says because I talk too long with the sitter) or wants to stay and play with her friends. Once we get out, she insists on walking down the concrete steps with absolutely no help from her extremely over protective mom. I just walk beside her with my arm out (just in case). Once we get in the car she asks where we’re going or whines the entire ride home. Once in the house, she’s usually ok and content with her toys and dinner (although she requires her own plate and utensils). She’s really into closes doors behind herself these days and sometimes she’ll just run out the room and slam the door when she doesn’t want to listen (I’ve seen a drastic decline in this one since the last time she had to face her consequences 😉) It’s right before bed that she becomes a little gremlin. She starts whining about every single thing tries to throw little tantrums (we shut those down immediately).
Overall she is really well behaved. I think that’s why I’m having such a tough time with this “testing of boundaries” phase that she’s experiencing. We are learning along the way which discipline techniques work best. Here are a few that I find work well:
1) I count down from 5 and give her “the look”. Usually by 3 she’s doing whatever it is that I told her to do. This works well in public when I can’t get her like I want to or in the evenings when I don’t have much energy.
2) Popping her in the hand or behind. I usually only do this when she’s being extremely defiant or doing something that is dangerous. I want her to know that her behavior is not acceptable and no longer an option EVER.
3) Time out with her hands on the wall. Hubby hates this one. He says its looks like she’s being arrested. She really hates this one as well because there is no mommy interaction. It hurts her feelings more than anything but gives me great results in regards to correcting the unwanted behavior.
Those are the most frequent techniques I use. It’s a daily struggle but I know as long as we stay firm and consistent, this won’t last long. I have zero tolerance for bad kids, so I refuse to let my daughter be one. I call it tough love. We are preparing her for a future where she can’t always get her way and will have to learn how to communicate her emotions in a constructive matter in order to be effective. She’s still my angel and I still spoil her BUT she knows that there are boundaries in this house.