We were told by various people that the age of one is a good time to start time-outs, if needed. I find it pretty hard to discipline Melia, despite her being such a rascal most of the day. I know she can mostly understand me because she'll usually follow my instructions. Usually. There are days when I can tell she is testing me when she'll look at me with a smile and do the exact opposite of what I've asked of her.
Melia loves to climb, especially on top of tables. I don't allow her to climb on the coffee table, because she can easily fall off and really hurt herself. One day, she was trying to use a Magna doodle as a step stool to get on the coffee table. I asked her repeatedly to step off the magna doodle, but she wouldn't listen. Finally, I had to position her in front of a wall with her hands touching the wall. She seemed sad that I placed her there, but she was willing to stay for one minute. After the minute was over, I explained to her why she was in time-out. While I was lecturing her, she pulled me close and gave me hugs and kisses (see, such a rascal!). I thought she understood why she was in trouble.
Later that day, we were watching the women's world cup finals. Melia started to stand on her Magna doodle again. I said to her, "Melia, remember what Mommy said earlier?" and before I knew it, she ran over to the wall and put herself in time-out. It was a pretty funny moment, but I soon realized she thought it was ok to do something bad as long as she stood by the wall. *sigh* So much for that.
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| So happy in time out! |
