Yeah, so I had my little script in my head for the pull-up scenario. Not too long after I posted, we had a getting-dressed scenario, so I obviously decided to apply what I had written to that situation since they were so closely related.
Did. not. work. At. all.
I'm starting to wonder if all this stuff can even be applied to 2-year-olds, since they obviously don't live in the realm of reason and logic. How can you listen to your mommy empathize with you when all your brain knows is that you have to get dressed and YOU DON'T WANT TO!!!!!?? And choices? Yeah, it's fun to pick a choice (she picked to put her shirt on first rather than her pants), but actually having to do that choice is a whole 'nother matter. Before you can put your shirt on, you have to take your PJ shirt off, and that is COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!
So I resorted to holding her down and dressing her against her will since we really needed to get out the door to the grocery store.
But I was calm. I didn't get angry myself.
Progress?
I'm thinking that Dallin was about this age when I started to get off the gentle discipline bandwagon.
But I think it's important to keep trying. Obviously there is no "magic pill" for parenting, no nugget of information that will make everything hunky-dory all of the time. Two-year-olds will always be two-year-olds.
I know we've swung the pendulum way too far toward the "control-freak" direction lately, and what I mostly need to work on is not my kids, it's myself. So we will have those moments and those days, but hopefully I can remain more in control of myself.
Did. not. work. At. all.
I'm starting to wonder if all this stuff can even be applied to 2-year-olds, since they obviously don't live in the realm of reason and logic. How can you listen to your mommy empathize with you when all your brain knows is that you have to get dressed and YOU DON'T WANT TO!!!!!?? And choices? Yeah, it's fun to pick a choice (she picked to put her shirt on first rather than her pants), but actually having to do that choice is a whole 'nother matter. Before you can put your shirt on, you have to take your PJ shirt off, and that is COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!
So I resorted to holding her down and dressing her against her will since we really needed to get out the door to the grocery store.
But I was calm. I didn't get angry myself.
Progress?
I'm thinking that Dallin was about this age when I started to get off the gentle discipline bandwagon.
But I think it's important to keep trying. Obviously there is no "magic pill" for parenting, no nugget of information that will make everything hunky-dory all of the time. Two-year-olds will always be two-year-olds.
I know we've swung the pendulum way too far toward the "control-freak" direction lately, and what I mostly need to work on is not my kids, it's myself. So we will have those moments and those days, but hopefully I can remain more in control of myself.
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