Discipline at Our House Starts YOUNG!!!

Eric and I have very effectively used the timeout method with both of the boys. It seems to work well and is a very PC way of discipline. The only downside to it is you have to be dead serious about it and it certainly takes more work than a quick spanking does. Although, I should mention, we are not opposed to a spanking now and again, depending on the offense. The kids have all been very different with how they have responded to this discipline.

Andrew was a super easy little boy all the way up until he was about 2. Before 2 all it took was a stern look or a little talking to and the behavior changed. He was extremely sensitive (still is) and easy to discipline. Once we started doing timeouts though it was an entirely different story. I remember one day it took me an hour and a half to accomplish a 2 minute timeout. Not a fabulous day but it was a battle worth fighting because he has never again tested me on it.


Zane was MUCH younger when we started the time out process. He was (and is) completely oblivious to stern looks and gentle rebukes. Unless you are actually physically removing him from the naughty situation he will continue on in it. He is just a much more boundary testing child in that way. I think Eric and I started with the whole timeout thing with him when he was about 16 months old. He may have been younger. All we would do is set him against the wall and hold him there for about 30 seconds. As he got closer to 2 we upped the time more toward a minute. Do I think he really knew and understood what was happening? No. But I do think he realized that whatever behavior he had been doing was unacceptable to us and he did not get to continue it. Plus our kids don't get timeouts without warnings, at least not at the start. And it did sink in that he was getting put into timeout. When he did turn 2 and we started setting him in the timeout spot he did not get out. He would sit there the whole time without a fuss. So I guess it was a success to start so young in someways.


Why all this talk about timeouts and discipline you maybe asking yourself! Well today Miss Lucy got her first timeout. And yes, she is only 14 months old. She has been randomly hitting me, Eric, the boys for the last few weeks and frankly that is unacceptable in this household. I will not tolerate it in the boys and I am certainly not going to tolerate it in a sassy little girl who thinks she is too cute and the rules do not apply to her. The time had come for a little lady to get a taste of discipline in our house. After 2 warnings to stop hitting Eric's leg, I promptly picked her up and carried her over to timeout (speed is important at her age, otherwise she forgets what she did) I set her in the timeout spot and held her there for 30 seconds. No eye contact, no talking. Just passive resistance to her squirming and shrieking. When the time was done I told her she was not to hit. It was not acceptable and then we went and said sorry to daddy and got/gave kisses. Simple? yes. But it is a lot of dedication on our part because now she has started this trip down discipline/manners road and Eric and I are determined to have pleasant well mannered children. And frankly the work involved in that starts a lot earlier than any parent wants it to!



I should mention that I have been EXTREMELY blessed in a hubby like Eric. We team parent and both of us are on the same page with discipline. I don't have to worry that he is not going to back me up. We are in this together and have a common goal in mind. That isn't to say that we don't disagree occasionally about methods or severity of punishment. But for the most part we stand together as a unit. And discuss differences later, not in the heat of the moment and not in front of the kids. Something EVERY parenting couple needs to do. No one parent needs to be the bad guy. Kids respond best when the boundaries are similar enough between the two that they know what the expected behavior is. Ok, off my little soap box now!