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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Baby Discipline

I told this story to several people already. And the more I think about it, the more I am blown away by the intelligence and sense of humor of my soon-to-be one year old boy. If this is a sign of things to come, Ben and I are in deep trouble!

We have an end table that has a metal latch on it. Quinn enjoys standing up and slamming the latch up and down- causing a most irritating noise. Not to mention, scratching the pricey piece of furniture! Initially, I tried stopping this by clapping my hands, spouting an authoritative, "No!" and moving him away from the area. Quinn's response: laughter. Full-blown, show-you-all-my-teeth cackling laughter. My next tactic: the same "No!" with a hand slap and moving him away from the area. And just as any good boy should, Q tested me. Over and over. Until finally, he started slamming the latch, sitting down, and holding his hand out for me to slap (this is where mommy turns around so he can't see her laugh).

The child knows when he's doing something that he should not. And when he sees me catch him doing it or when I use my "I really mean it" voice, he sits down and holds out his hand.

Guess the hand slap is out.

2 comments:

Leyla said...

That is too funny! It's crazy to see "things" actually clicking in their little brains. It's scary to think about parenting and what is the right thing to do for discipline...and to think it only gets harder!

Miss Niki said...

Very cute story. Redirecting their attentiont always worked best for me, especially at Q's age.