Gametes In Love

G’s new play-table

My little reader

Sunday mornings with Curious George

Little Movers Moving Co. (est. 2009)

I know discipline is important. It’s important to start early. We do lots of redirecting in our home, paired with counting and some time-outs for serious crimes. But I’ve hit a new ceiling. How do you discipline a kid that counts themselves into trouble?

Case in point.

We’re trying to get G to NOT walk or stand while on the couch. This is mostly for his safety as he’s tumbled onto the floor now on two separate occasions. But he thinks it’s a game. Yesterday he gets up on the couch and blatantly stands and walks around while I’m sitting there next to him. Of course grinning ear-to-ear. We engage in the following discussion:

Me: G, I need you to sit down please

G: [cackle]

Me: Ok, that’s one!

G: [laugh]

Me: That’s two!

G: Tree!!! (while STILL standing mind you!)

And there you have it. G knows that three (or in his case “tree”) follows two, and he’s happy to participate in the counting game. BUT IT’S NOT A GAME, KID! You’re in trouble, and you just hurried yourself into it!

So since he counted himself out, he got removed from the couch (which is what I was going to do if I got to 3 on my own).

The thing is that this is the second time now he’s done that. He gives himself the 3 count, which has the same result as if I would’ve counted.

I don’t really know what else to do here. The consequence is the same no matter who gets to 3, but why is this fun for him? Is this him disrespecting authority? Do I need to be harsher in consequences if he counts vs. me?

Suggestions?

03.30.2010

04.07.2010: Feather painting

Date unknown

Date unknown

Date unknown

04.19.2010: Medium? Sandpaper. Wonder what the brushes looked like afterward…

A bed-time chat with G. [Imagine a toddler, in his footed jammas, standing in his crib, a “banket” and Nubsie in each hand.]

G: Pease

Me: Please? Please what?

G: Sit

Me: You want me to sit? Ok.

Me: Do you want momma or dada to sit with you tonight?

G: Mama

Me: Ok, I guess I’ll sit with you.

How frikkin’ cool is this? This is the first actual exchange I’ve had with G, and yeah, even though he wasn’t using lots of words we actually had a conversation.

I had really hoped to keep G blanket-in-crib free until he turned 2. While, yes, he sleeps with a lovey, and yes we put the fancy, thick crib bumpers back in a few months ago, it’s not the same to me as a blanket in his crib.Yes, I still worry about SIDS, and have taken the recommendation to keep blankets away from kid’s cribs until 2 to heart. Remember, too, that I used to go and check that G still breathing at 2am every morning until he turned 1.

I’ve tried to make him comfortable by still running the heater in his room, and putting him in fuzzy jammies, but G now goes to bed asking for a blanket. I’ve been giving him a really light-weight blanket and letting him fall asleep with it (since I stay in his room until he does), but then I take it away.

Except now he wakes up in the middle of the night and asks for a blanket. I can’t supervise him with it if my eyes are shut while sleeping.

So what do I do? Do I cave and say “Ok, you’ll be 2 in three months. Wrap yourself away!”, or do I hold firm on the no-blanket rule?

For the record, in day-care they nap with blankets. But they’re supervised by 4 teachers.

Am I just over-thinking this?

There may or may not have been a rumble between our four-legged and two-legged children this past Sunday.

Hypothetically speaking, a certain toddler might have gotten a bit excited about chasing after a ball, and not seen a certain 18lb feline napping beside said ball. Also, this ball-recovery attempt might have taken longer than usual as cat and ball were under a chair. After a hiss warning, and no back-up from hypothetical child, the hypothetical cat might have issued a 5-claw salute. 3 times in fast succession.

Ok, fine. It happened. Right before bed-time. Made jamma-time interesting.

G escaped with a scratch on his arm and 2 on his forehead. He’s fine, and the crying stopped within a minute. He was more startled than injured, but it still required some TLC from us.

What’s interesting is that now when you ask “G, where is your kitty scratch?”, he looks at the (fading) scratch on his fore-arm and brings it up to his mouth. Don’t ask me where he got this from. I’m a general hugger/top-of-the-head kisser kind of mom. Not a “let me kiss it where it hurts” parent (some day he’s gonna fall on his butt in the park and trust me, I don’t care to kiss that in public). Either way, it’s cute and kind of funny.

So yeah, cat-kid battle was on. Cat 1, kid 0. Luckily the battle scars are fading, and their relationship is the same.