My Mother-in-law and Father-in-law (Hi Mom, hi dad.)have told us several times that as a toddler, it was the most difficult thing to discipline Jonathan. He was a tough little cookie and after doing something he knew he shouldn't be doing, you just couldn't get through to him. He was the kind of kid who laughed when you yelled at him or cracked a smile in time out. He was anything but a cry baby. (Mom and Dad, if I'm remembering any of this incorrectly, just let me know.) I told my father-in-law that it's no fun to get angry at your kid for the 100th time for throwing a bowl of cereal across the room, it's just when he laughs in your face as you scold him that you really think; "this kid's going to kill me".
As some of you may know, we've had one heck of a time trying to discipline Noah because alas, he is just like his father. He is just like his father, but with my big mouth. It's not that Noah is a bad kid, it's that his boundless energy and driven personality often gets him into a bit of trouble. If he's not practicing his shot-put with dinner or running away down the street, then he can probably be found tearing up a book or hitting one of us. So we've read a bunch of books, talked to his pediatrician and then a child behaviorist and found ourselves with lots of good advice. Of course it's not fun to be a disciplinarian, but it's important and we want Noah to grow to be the best he can. What works the best these days (and I use "works" loosely) is time outs and just leaving places when he is acting up. Noah just turned 26 months old, which is still pretty young in my book, but our little guy has added a new dimention to discipline recently.
Yes, our 26 month old, with a vocabulary that has been growing at a mind numbing speed is now acting and SPEAKING like a teenager! I don't know if we are ready for this.
Today after walking up to Me and scratching my arm quite hard for no reason. (Ouch!)
Dad: Noah! NO, we don't hurt other people! Time out. (Walks to time out step)You don't hurt Mommy, scratching people is wrong!
Noah: Daaaaady... I joking! I scratch Mommy, I joking! (Then he cracks a huge smile and laughs)
Yeah right Noah, I don't buy it. Do you think I was never 13 and brushed things off as "just a joke"?
10 minutes later, Noah walks up to Jon, grabs his coffee mug and then spills it on my laptop.
Dad: Noah! No. You know better than that!I asked you not to touch Daddy's coffee! I've told you this before. now it's on the computer!
(Noah goes to time out while Jon cleans the computer)
Noah: Peering at Jon over the small wall... "Daaaaady..... I'm REEEEEAlly sorry Daddy." (Giant Smile)
I don't know where he learns this stuff...um...but, I have an idea..
When Noah turned two I wasn't prepared for a teenager, but i guess it makes for an interesting ride.
* On a side note: Today after I put Noah's socks on he looked at me and said: "Mommy! so soxy!" and laughed. He does use the word "so" before lots of things these days, like yesterday when Noah saw me in a pink hoodie he said: "Mommy, so pink!". He also likes to make words that he knows into funny sounds like : socks=soxy. He's a funny guy.
5 comments:
So soxy! That made me laugh out loud! That's enough to just melt all the troubles away, isn't it?
this is pretty funny. but probably only because he's not my son. then i'd probably think it was rather infuriating. he's a clever one!
Unfortunately, I can relate A LITTLE to this - Tyler has taken to hitting and pushing us, and then he immediately rubs your arm/leg/back/whatever and says, "I be gentle now". Ugh. Laughing the whole time. We don't have the throwing of food, but we do have the meltdowns every morning because the pop tart/breakfast bar/muffin/pancakes aren't in the baggie "just right" (yes, plates are not good enough, we need a ziploc - EVERY DERN MORNING). They are so incredibly quirky at this age.
Hugs and kisses to our SWEET friend, Noah - one of these days, we're all going to get together!
Kelsey has been putting us through a time of temper tantrums...oh yeah...an almost four year old having tantrums is NEVER fun.
I pray that you and Jon find the patience and the right discipline action for Noah.
Its tough being a parent.
Kendra
Hey thanks everybody! Good comments and advice! Yeah, toddlers are crazy huh? It was more a post just about how I found it funny he was just "joking". I didn't expect that at two. We're trying several things when he gets a bit wild and a behaviorist that we were seeing has really given us great tips on dealing with his intensity. Thanks again everbody!
Lauren :)
PS. Shiso Mama and (un)relaxeddad, so nice to meet you! Thanks for reading! :)
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