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Hard to believe this face could torture!
As the stay at home parent of a two and a half year old and having read nearly everything there is on pregnancy, babies and up to three year olds I feel like I might be a semi expert, at least in my mind! I have been very lucky that until recently my child was not a huge tantrum thrower and months could go by without having to give a timeout. I wanted to share how that happened because several readers and friends are at the ‘my child is throwing themselves on the ground and making me look like an idiot’ phase of parenting. However I will amend that my own child is currently in the ‘acting out for attention in public’ phase which I am slowly feeling my way around how to handle. For now it means less eating out in public unless I’m not actually hungry because forget eating very well with a toddler demanding attention or squealing. We have also walked out of a few places before and administer timeouts in stores and restaurants. Some of it is normal (I think) fidgety/inability to sit too long.
We don’t spank, Chris and I were spanked and decided that wasn’t how we want to handle things. We have both each popped him on the butt a few times and have tried a hand smack, doesn’t do anything for Nate since we play smack his booty. Like ‘I gotcha booty!! I’m gonna get that butt!’ kind of stuff so my secret is:
Consistency.
Consistency is how we got to this place. I have been refered to as the ‘Bedtime Nazi’ and the ‘Timeout Nazi’ because I stick to a routine and I hold on for dear life. Routine and consistency have saved my sanity. When we first started time outs it was like an episode of Supernanny with me dragging him back to timeout time and time and time again…the record is something like 73 times of back to timeout. That lasted for several days until we broke him, yeah yeah he is a kid not a horse but parents know what I mean. All of the sudden the heavens opened up and all I had to say was ‘stop that now please or you will go to timeout’ and he would stop. Sure he tests me still sometimes (like the past month) but I just stick to routine and consistency and I know that we will make it through. But for now it’s timeouts, tantrums and torture!
*between you and me, his longest tantrums last maybe 30 seconds which from what I have observed of other kids is a walk in the park.
It is such hard work, but I do believe that you put in the hard work now, and then you reap the benefits later. So, you’ll have to let me know when the reaping of benefits begins.
Hey, can you answer a stupid question for me. By self-hosted blogs, do you mean that if I have bought my own blog URL, even though I blog through Blogger, will my GFC end?
Kristy @PampersandPinot recently posted..You Gotta Laugh
Ugh – 3 is bad, but I am so sorry to tell ya that 4 is even worse. It’s almost over, though.
Robin recently posted..Boys Can Cook, Too!
See now I just read what Robin said and for us two was “normal” stuff, three was HORRIBLE and four was heaven!
But you already have it nailed. Consistency is the key to parenthood for sure. No less frustrating on that 73rd trip back to time out, though 
Ally recently posted..Learning Disappointment – Thanks A Lot Guitar Center