Gametes In Love

We have a routine established with G whenever we get home: we wash hands.

It’s funny, when we get home now and put him down on the hall, even if we don’t say it, G just runs to the bathroom and just waits for one of us to come in and wash his hands. I dig it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leakw-nj5xs]

I’m not perfect at this, but I’m really trying to be judicious over what we will allow G to do and not do. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m lax on a lot of things (you wanna play with a fork, kid? sure!) and yes, I cave in on a lot of his requests after a certain amount of whining (Ok, fine — you can take my computer mouse), but I really want to put my foot down on the big stuff. I also want to let him know when I mean business and that getting in trouble has consequences.

I’m trying to establish a “time out” zone for G. I wanted somewhere he won’t easily run away from, but not used for other purposes. His dining room chair is out. While it fulfills part I of the requirement, it fails horribly in part II and I didn’t want him to associate eating with being in trouble. So I had an epiphany: the Bumbo chair. He never sat in it much as a wee one: we still have it downstairs, and he’s got a small enough rear, he can still fit.

So I tried it (during a legitimate timeout offense, I assure you)!

Fail 1: I thought that he’d be small enough to still sit in it, but too big to be able to get out on his own. Wrong!!! 10 seconds into Time Out, G just got up and rolled away. I put him back in, he rolled away again.

Fail 2: A week later, I come to see this:

That’s right: in the middle of his play-space, G got one of his toys and quietly crept into his Bumbo and decided to play.

What gives, kid? Now, what am I supposed to do for a time-out chair? If he thinks Bumbo is for fun, it’s no good as a “you’re in trouble, Young Man” thinking place.

Darn kid! Neutralized my parenting weaponry even before we got going.

Back to the drawing board…