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What kind of “not”?
Today was a rough day with Brogan. He tested every limit, he pushed every button. He didn’t listen, he defied, he lied, he hit, he back talked, he kicked, he screamed. He got me to a place I rarely go – a place of absolute rage. We’ve had a good run of positive reinforcement induced pretty good behavior, and December brought us a “Santa scared straight” good little boy. But today was so bad that it necessitated straight punishment. He was sent to his room (and told to stay in)… and he walked out. I closed his door (and told him to keep it shut, or he was in there…
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Leaving the warm and cozy den of ignorance
Sometimes it would be easier to live in ignorance – to be oblivious. Much easier than dealing with reality, especially when the reality is that you have made some serious mistakes as a parent. Before I was a parent, I felt certain that I would be no-nonsense. I would be tough. I had a clear vision of what was right and wrong; what was acceptable and not acceptable. With clarity like that, it should be easy to be consistent, right? Well it’s not. Before I was a parent, I knew things like “no” would mean no, period. That you don’t coddle, that you don’t give in. That you see right…
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Discipline Sucks
Discipline is the worst. Why can’t kids just come out of the womb obeying all the rules? The old adage “it hurts me more than it hurts you” is so true (as a kid I thought this was total BS). It’s such a contradiction – you want to punish kids so they stop their bad behavior, but then you don’t actually want to punish them. Ugghh! Brogan is and has been quite the little button-pusher. The threat of discipline rarely deters him – we actually have to follow through. Admittedly, my husband is better at this than I am (so while he may be a participant, he is definitely the…
