Time-Out
Me and this one are back on. We reinstituted time-out this past weekend and though both she and Bill were ill, it proved pretty effective. We tweaked the process by putting her in a corner (opposed to just sitting in the same spot) then abandoning the stopwatch. We ask her to step out after we’ve basically regained our composure and imagine she has with hers as well. I found I wasn’t losing my cool as often or as quickly and that she really seemed remorseful once her time was up. She comes out of the corner saying “I’m sorry!” And when we ask why she was in time-out she has real answers that she seems to understand:
“Because I touching the (com)puter.”
“Because Della told Mommy No.”
“Because Della not clean up.”
“Because I not cover my mouth.” (when she coughs)
"Because I throw the car/elmo/toy...you only throw *balls*"
"Because I put the car/elmo/toy in mouf...you only eat pood (food)"
In not quite these words, Bill remarked on how the act of time-out is effective in us all quickly recovering from Adele’s bouts of “naughty.” It’s less personal to disengage via time-out than it is to spank and at this time it does seem more effective. I’m not giving up on spanking just yet but I am willing to keep tweaking time-out for as long as possible. For now, I am truly enjoying being back on the same page with my girl because I know it won’t be long or often that we’re here together.