We have successfully been able to avoid official “time outs” here, that is until now. Previously, if “J” got into trouble, we had a little chat. If things got a little out of hand he would have to have some alone time in the living room on the couch. My sister uses her stairs for time out, and for some reason this didn’t work for “J”.
Yesterday, “J” was lying down on the bottom stair with his blanket. I asked him what he was doing, he said taking a time out. He thinks it is fun to get in trouble and be sent to the stair like his cousin.
Recently, we have run into a bit of difficulty with “J” slapping or attempting to slap me, if I took away something he was destroying or if I told him he couldn’t do something. Also, he has been pushing his cousin out of the way, although it was his cousin who showed him this. I don’t want this behaviour to go unpunished or to continue. So, last Friday after a particularily hard hit to my nose, instinct told me to put him in a chair in the corner of the kitchen where he couldn’t see anything and had to stare at the wall. Well, believe it or not, it worked! We have only had to do it maybe three times, but he knows right away that he was wrong. And after his two minutes in the corner, he came out a much calmer, appologetic little boy.
I hope I don’t have to use this too often, but I am glad that I found a special way to deal with the bad behaviour here. And hopefully this bad behaviour will be short lived, I don’t like to see my good little boy getting mad, especially at me.
Bring those flowers, that bloom in May.
And I only wish I had been able to get a full garden planted last fall. I love seeing flowers start to come to life after a long (or mild) winter. My favorite Spring rain is the kind we are having today. Big plentiful drops that clean away a lot of the winter grime and is just warm enough that the grass starts turning a better shade of green. I know we are supposed to maybe get a little tiny bit of snow, but I am hoping that the weather man was wrong last night. I don’t want to have to pull any winter stuff back out. I have slowly been washing the jackets and putting everything away for another spring, summer and fall.
Another of my favorite things is the colour of green in May. I love the colour or new leaves, freshly sprung out of their branches. The first green of the year is fresh and new, it hasn’t been beaten by the summer sun, dry winds or summer thunderstorms. All of which are good, but it is nice to see the beauty of the first green, untarnished.
I welcome the April showers. A little messy for a day or two, but I say bring it on, the beauty that is unveiled is worth every drop.
edited to add: Of course the weatherman was right and a mere two hours later those warm drops of rain have turned to wet snow. Hopefully it will be over soon.
Can’t …. believe…. “A”…. is… 14!!!!!!
It seems like only yesterday, he was a young little kid running around pretending he was a video game. Here he is now at 14 playing video games. Poor kid, I made him blow out the candles, and no there weren’t 14 candles, but he wouldn’t let me put the votives on the cake to make up for it. But, I did make him a home made double chocolate (or Choc-0-latté as “J” would say) cake.
A great weekend was had by all, “A” got some great gifts and some new clothes and he even made me proud by getting a golf shirt. I almost cried in the store when he asked for one in addition to all the t-shirts he was picking out. I said of course, but you will have to get some proper shorts to go with it, you can’t wear a golf shirt with basketball shorts.
We love you “A” and hope you had a great day!!!
