I did good today!

[Violet2]

DD threw all her peas on the floor along with her meat. I could've lost it but I didn't.

I calmly told her how I felt (sad b/c I cooked dinner for her) and gave her a cup. I told her to pick them up and that I knew she could do it.

And she did.

And she apologized.

And we hugged.

And I thanked her for taking responsibility for her mess.

And it was very very very nice.

I think it helps that I'd been reading Positive Discipline earlier today. Maybe I need to do that every day?

V

[titania8]

WOOT!! That's awesome!

I know I am SO much more patient, understanding and clear headed when I'm reading a discipline or child development book. I need to get my nose back in one!!

[mom2happy]

Good times!

[midnightwriter]

Awesome! Everything is so much easier and less draining when as parents we start on the right footing.

[LynnS6]

Great!! Isn't it nice to have some new tools/ways to think about things?

[Violet2]

Yes if only they worked all the time. Today did not go as well.

DD was trouble with a capital T today.

I held it together but I was telling her I was getting mad and wanted to yell.

And we had some natural consequences (losing free access to crayons)

She apologized but I was still pretty ticked.

I told her she better take a good nap so she had some energy for scrubbing crayon of walls and furniture.

Which she is doing right now with Daddy.

I guess I made an impression b/c the first thing she said to Daddy upon waking up from her nap was "I had to say sorry to Mommy."

Well, tomorrow's another day, right?

V

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by Violet2

Yes if only they worked all the time. Today did not go as well.

DD was trouble with a capital T today.

I held it together but I was telling her I was getting mad and wanted to yell.

And we had some natural consequences (losing free access to crayons)

She apologized but I was still pretty ticked.

I told her she better take a good nap so she had some energy for scrubbing crayon of walls and furniture.

Which she is doing right now with Daddy.

I guess I made an impression b/c the first thing she said to Daddy upon waking up from her nap was "I had to say sorry to Mommy."

Well, tomorrow's another day, right?

V

How would she lose her crayons? Did she end up using them up completely on the walls????

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by midnightwriter

How would she lose her crayons? Did she end up using them up completely on the walls????

No momma took them and now she can only color with supervision. To me, natural consequence here is if you can't be reliable, then you aren't left alone with certain toys. Plus clean up.

We've never had an issue before, she's always been very reliable.

Today she went on a crayon crime spree.

V

[LynnS6]

One of the things that hard about gentle discipline is that to remember that 'misbehavior' isn't motivated by a need to be 'bad' nor is getting angry the worst thing in the world.

Just because your dd colored on the walls, doesn't mean that you, as a parent, have failed. Nor does it mean that she is Trouble.

I also think that you handled it well. It's OK to tell your child that you're getting angry. I know of no parent who doesn't get angry. The natural consequence of coloring on the walls is that mom gets really ticked. (The logical consequence is losing your crayons, by the way. The differences is that natural consequences occur, well, naturally. Logical consequences are imposed, but are related.)

More important than keeping your cool all the time (an impossible goal) is to model how you recover from when you make a mistake. It's important to think after you make a mistake or do something you wish you hadn't. What can you do differently? What do you wish had happened? What do you want your child to learn from this situation?