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| Santa Claus 2009 |
I never thought that I would resort to this but I keep catching myself singing to Gracie...
"You better not pout. You better not cry. You better not shout I'm telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town."
Our discipline regimen has declined from
1. having a patient conversation and trying to teach understanding and empathy
2. to having rewards and a star sheet
3. to having consequences and taking away privileges
4. to just saying the words "Santa's watching."
I am not sure what the future implications will be but it works in two seconds flat. :-)
I wish it worked for Papa and Mama too!
But what will I do in January? I'm thinking birthday fairy, summer solstice santa!
What have you resorted to these days?
Posts
I find what works the best for us when it comes to discipline, is me just taking a breather first. Sometimes to get that breather I need to leave the room briefly, or just explain to my kids that I need a "mama minute", which means I am going to be quiet and need a little space. Then after I take my "mama minute" I decide if the infraction is really worth taking strong action over. And you'd be surprised at how often when you take a break from the moment, you are better able to handle things and able to let some things go. In order to keep our sanity as moms I think sometimes you just have to let things go. (Of course not when they do something that may harm themselves or others but that goes without saying.) And choosing which battles are really worth fighting, or which behaviors are really worth trying to work on right away, is especially important when you are learning the ropes of taking care of two small kiddos and you have your hands full. Then once things are "normal" again, whether in be in 15 minutes or one day, you can then choose to talk with G about what happened when YOU have the time and energy. But you are going to probably run into more and more "issues" as you all get used to being a new family of four and the last thing you want to do is feel like you are spending the whole day policing or feeling guilty about your, or G's, actions. That's my two and a half cents! :)
ReplyDeleteI've started singing that song too. It has invoked more questions then behavior modification. Questions like "does Santa see me when I poop?" So things can degenerate further for sure. Sing away Mama! -charlotte
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