I have heard from several of my friends with older children that age 3 was much more difficult than age 2 with their children. I must say I completely agree! Nathaniel can be so good sometimes but at other times its like he is a completely different child. The major dramatic meltdowns drive me crazy - seriously sometimes I think I need to take a visit to the loony bin! He seems to melt over the smallest things and then has an all out tantrum when things don't go his way. This is really not OK with me so I have a new rule - No crying, whining, fussing or pitching a fit anywhere in the house except the "time-out" spot. So when Nathaniel starts any of these behaviors my response is "please go sit on the wall until you can change your behavior and speak nicely to me." So far this is working well and we have been using it for the last couple of months. I have learned that trying to reason with an upset 3 year old is pretty much pointless!
I never really thought I would be a "time-out" parent but of all the things we have tried this seems to work best for Nathaniel. He is a child that will whine, fuss at my feet and hang on me to try and get what he wants and by sending him to sit on the wall in our living room and paying him no attention he calms easier so we can discuss why he had to go to time-out and then we are able to move on with our day.
1 comment:
Oh my I feel your pain, Hold fast, Grace just turned four and the difference is substantial...right on the cusp of being a little girl vs some bipolar crazy thing... (and I love her more than life itself)I to used time out, in her room with great success. Now if she is mad she say "I quit"and puts herself in time out. Much less emotion now, thank goodness, only difference me vs you, I still have to deal with a teenage girl, heard that is fun too. :-)
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