Our normally perfectly obedient child has entered into a little defiant phase. Oh, joy! I think it has a lot to do with her age {2.5 years old}, but I think it also has a lot to do with the fact that she's still figuring out how to handle life with a new baby in the house when she's no longer getting 100% of Mommy & Daddy's attention anymore. Now don't get me wrong, Shelby is still such a good, sweet-natured little girl. I wouldn't get through the day without her help! She is totally Mommy's little helper. She gets clean diapers for me, fetches Hadley's Wubbanub when we accidentally leave it in the other room, takes the dirty dishes to the sink, runs to get the burp cloth when Hadley spits up, puts everyone's shoes away, and the list goes on. But the defiance is definitely there, too. ;) The other day when Shelby woke up, I opened up her curtains and told her it was raining. She ran to the window to confirm the news and then looked at me with a completely straight face: "No it's not, Mommy. It's sunny." Sometimes I just can't win! If I say it's black, she says it's white. For a while, I tried to just ignore it. But if I ignore Shelby, she just continually repeats herself until I acknowledge her. ;) So I tried to just agree with her. But as soon as I agree with her, she switches to the opposite response. For instance, if I were to agree and say it's sunny..she quickly replies: "No, it's raining!" It's really a fun phase. ;) We also hear "NO!" a lot these days, but she has learned that she is not allowed to say "No" to Mommy or Daddy unless she wants to sit in time out. About a week after Hadley was born, we had to start time-out with Shelby. She is so much like I am and hates to be in trouble, so usually all we have to do is threaten time out and that is enough to get her to straighten up.
A funny story about time out that I want to remember....Shelby's first exposure to time out was actually in Mother's Morning Out. She started MMO this past fall, and they use time out for discipline there. Shelby was totally intrigued by time out at school, and she would tell me all about it at home b/c she'd never seen it before! It was actually pretty funny...a little girl in her class got time out for taking off her shoes & socks and another little boy got time out for climbing on a table. So Shelby would come home and reenact these events and put herself in time out. ;) It was hilarious! I was so worried about her infatuation with time out that I had a talk with her teachers to make sure she wasn't intentionally misbehaving to get in time out at school {we think she thought it was an exciting thing b/c those kids were getting attention}. They were flabbergasted when I asked if Shelby's ever been in time out. They assured me she's always an angel. :) Now that Shelby has actually received time out at home, I think she's finally figured out it's not such a fun place to be. ;)
Two and a half is definitely proving to be a bit challenging at times, but it's also such a fun age! We are so thankful for this sweet face...even in her moments of defiance! Even though it's not always easy, it's such a joy to watch her grow into her own person with her own thoughts & opinions! We love you & we're so proud of you, Shelby!
{Thank you to Granddad & Grandma for the new pool/water slide..Shelby loves it!}
Sarah, I could not have written this post better. I'm honestly so thankful to hear that I'm not the only one going through the defiant stage right now. I'm just starting a time out this week. I should have started it a long time ago, but we've reached a point where its just necessary. My biggest fear is that Chey will be in time out all day long :(. Let's hope not! Thanks for writing this. It encouraged me quite a bit.
ReplyDelete