The time outs last for 60 seconds and consist of the kids sitting in our laps faced away from the "action." The non-offending sibling is curious at first, but when it is explained that their partner in crime in is time out, becomes very disinterested. After the 60 seconds is up, we explain why they were put in time out, have them apologize (which usually consists of a gentle headbutt), and give hugs and kisses (thank you SuperNanny...we employ her methods every time).
Did they get it? We're not sure. Did it take care of the situation for a little while? Yes. Do time outs work with kids under two? Apparently they do.
So, what is the New Frontier? We have stopped holding them during time outs. We figured out a location on the 1st and 2nd floors that can be their time out spot. We employ the same method (1. warning 2. explanation 3. time out for 60 4. apology 5. hugs/kisses), but we just don't hold them. They sit in the spot and wait it out. I was petrified that they wouldn't stay and I'd be chasing kids all over the Northern Hemisphere. Fears be damned! Matt has had to have a time out on the 1st and 2nd floor and while he had to be reminded several times not to move, he stayed there and waited for the entire 60 seconds. I am truly in awe of this b/c I did not have the confidence that it would work. They're only 17 months old!
Hailey has not had one of these time outs yet. She's been pretty good for the past couple of days, so we still have to see if she will sit still. I just had to get this in the blog. I was afraid that I would forget when something good happens (because I find so much of the bad stuff entertaining and blog about that as much as possible)! Hope all is calm and good in your houses...we're snowed in for a little while from our "dusting." How do weathermen keep their jobs? I would be sooooo fired if I kept fucking up the Quadratic Equation when I taught my kids!
9 comments:
!LOL.! So true about the weathermen!! I love the timeout chair!! We used timeouts for Mist although she was a very well behaved child and never really had to worry about it! We got 7-8 inches of snow here..I am about to lost my freaking mind being stuck in the house..I would even be happy with a trip to Germ-Mart right now and thats bad!
We're also getting a "dusting" of about 6 inches (and still falling). I also say I want my kids to grow up to be weatherwomen... what a great job.
Time outs work really well for Tot, but Bean... that kid just laughs at us. Literally. Laughs. And, she's cute about it. She's going to be a tough nut to crack.
Ha ha! I love good ole' B-more weather! I prefer not to think about time-outs, cause my kids will be perfect angles-HA! No really, I think that I'll cave to easy, or completely forget that I sat them somewhere. I don't know how to stay sane!
Do they make husband sized time out chairs??
LOL about the weathermen! PS- I totally want to go back and fire my high school math teacher- I'm now a 4.0 student who can't freaking remember my functions and formulas in a math class that will never lead to calculus (Modeling Algebra)!! Not a jab at math teachers, just a jab at the one moron who I happened to have for geometry and alg 2 in high school.
Great job getting down a good time out strategy!! I envy you that your kids will stay in time out. Mine don't get many time outs these days (mostly because it wasn't working and I find it much more convenient to break up the fight and warn them 550 times, I never know which one did it anyway since they're good at lying and tattling now haha).
Oh the weathermen totally suck, don't they? We had one beautiful day yesterday...sunshine, blue skies. And he had predicted doom and gloom again. We had plans to be indoors most of the day but thankfully we were able to get the kids outdoors at the park for an hour at the end of the day to enjoy the sunshine!
That's great that your timeouts are working. It's good to start with a discipline routine while they're young. And I'm only saying that because I didn't and now I'm paying for it...LOL!
About the question of when to put them in kindergarten, I'm still on the fence. I really thought it would be a good idea to have Cole and Bella start kindergarten this year, even knowing they'd be the younger ones in the class. But now that the teacher has mentioned that socially, they are definitely a bit behind than the older kids, I'm not sure what to do.
I'm gonna wait it out and see how the next few months go. I don't really want them repeating kindergarten again because I think, academically, they'll be bored since they'll have already learned eveyrthing. That's the funny thing is that they are doing well when compared with their 6-yr old classmates in academics. Basically, they're just a little overly sensitive when dealing with the older children and I think that's what the teacher was talking about.
As far as your kids being born in August, I'm not sure when the cut-off is for you all where you live. Here it's Dec 2. And C & B were born Oct 2 so they're very close to the cut-off.
I think if I had to make the decision again, I would've kept them in preschool one more year before putting them in kindergarten. That way they would've had the advantage of being the older kids in the class, rahter than the youngest.
Good for you and Bill to have a strategy! Good for the kids that they let it work! They'll be fine going to K on time. They'll be bored otherwise.
Its nice to know that timeouts do actually work. I will be enforcing this to our son when he's older.
I love the timeout chair. Too cute.
Yeah for finding something that works and for the kids 'catching' on! My two oldest were about that age when we started time-outs, and they are still an effective discipline technique for both of them (at 3 and 4 years of age.)
I have noticed over the years that the weatherMAN has become a much younger, much more attractive weatherWOMAN . . . at least she looks pretty when she is 'predicting' the weather.
Sooooo true about the weatherman, or woman. We've been having predictions of low 20's (Celsius) and it's been around 28 actually. Which is crazy hot and I can't handle the heat anyway.
love the time-outs. you're a great one at enforcing things - I think I give it two days and then I cave! But I do have a thing about bad manners so I think I'll stick with the discipline if only for that. Of course, like Mandibula says, my kids will be angels *wink*
About the carbs.........I'm so with you. THat's the reason I'm still lugging around the Christmas weight.
Post a Comment