Choices

This morning we went to the zoo. Admission was free, and I found some free parking about a mile away, so we walked! For some reason, my child who normally loves wearing a hat wanted to take hers off. Since she also wanted to walk, I decided a good consequence for taking the hat off was riding in the stroller. I said, “If you take off your hat, you will have to ride in the stroller. The first time I put her in the stroller, she cried. I told her, “I’m sorry you’re in the stroller, too, but that was your choice.” It took several times for her to understand that she wasn’t going to be able to walk and keep her hat off, but after that she was fine. A nice grandma helped her put it straight, and she left it there after that.

I’ve never sent my kids to a corner before, but I needed a non-spanking aversive, and it seemed like it might be worth a try. So when David disobeyed (he jumped from one bed to the other), I sent him to the corner for a minute. After he went back to playing, Bethel went to the corner and immediately said “Can I be done?” Guess she liked that approach! We’ll see if it’s effective.

Laurel woke up several times last night to be fed. So… given that she’s in a new place and a bit out of sorts, and given that I’m fearful of disturbing people around us (not to mention waking up our own kids), I nursed her. Hope she sleeps better tonight.

Usually on trips, I bring along a few books to read out loud to Lee. Lee doesn’t particularly care for reading, and he doesn’t have much time anyway to read, so I’ll usually read books he’s interested in listening to. On this trip, we brought Assertive Discipline for Parents by Lee and Marlene Canter, and Heartfelt Discipline by Clay Clarkson. The Canter book, which we finished somewhere in Joplin, Missouri, is by non-Christians, and they’re not spankers, but they’re big on establishing parental authority. You may be familiar with their program for schools, or their book Homework Without Tears. We got this book because Lee has a number of parents with older children who know they blew it when their children were toddlers, and are trying to figure out what to do with their kids as school age children. The Clarksons are non-spanking Christians. I don’t agree with a lot of what they say, but I’m particularly interested in what they do to establish their authority and get their kids to obey. I’ll probably read this one on the trip home, but I might read it first and comment on it here.

I’ll write reviews on both of these sometime this week.