Monday, June 21, 2010

Do Terrible Two's Last Forever??

         Wondering how long the terrible two's are supposed to last!! Evan will be 4 next month but he has his moments when he tries to act like a baby or does things deliberately even though he knows he will get in trouble for it. He's been playing with the bathroom faucets, getting into the fridge, screaming when he doesn't get his way, saying "what the heck" (which he heard one of the boys say). We had a talk with the boys because tries to mirror everything they do, so they have to make sure they watch what they do or say around him because he repeats absolutely everything!  We had a special lock on his door but Houdini figured out how to open it & he wreaks havoc  in the house while everyone is sound asleep. I tried getting another childproof lock for the door but since our doorknobs are not the normal round ones, we can't figure out how to keep him in his  room. Anyways, I made him a poster board with a list behaviors he needs to change. I bought some fake money from the dollar store & put prices on each good behavior. He can get fake money for all of the good behaviors listed but if he behaves badly, he can lose the money he has earned. I also got a little basket of goodies & labeled it the "Good Behavior Store". We sat him down & went through all of the behaviors he is expected to change & we told him that at the end of each week, he can use his money to buy something from the store. He was super excited & right away, we noticed a change in his behavior. He started being more polite and we acknowledged it & praised him for it. Let's see how this all turns out because my only other option is to send him to a boot camp for toddlers! lol
~~Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!~~


~Do not train boys to learning by force and harshness, but lead them by what amuses them, so that they may better discover the bent of their minds~~


2 comments:

  1. Hey there! Love your blog page. I'm following you now. I'm in exactly the same boat as yours. my one turned three in february this year, and oh my word it would appear that his terrible two stage is but only beginning! i wondered at some stage if there was a hearing problem because he doesn't listen. but his hearing is fine! selective hearing is more what seems to be the problem. now he has picked up on cuss words on the tv. already my husband and i are struggling to be careful with what we are saying around him.

    your current method of discipline is very innovative and if you don't mind i think i might just try it out. the counting to three thing lasted for...oooo...about two weeks. now he just looks at me and laughs as if i'm some crazy woman! anyhow. have a super weekend. check out my discussion on my blog frog community. my blog: http://www.chachawtihmama.blogspot.com

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  2. Thank u Jeanine! Evan has selective hearing as well!! Funny cause we were just talking about that today (how he ignores us if we ask him to pick up his mess but then flies out of his chair if someone says the word "icecream"). lol It upsets me because I know that he perfectly understands what I ask of him. He's also extremely impatient....like this morning when he asked me for a cup of juice 6 times in a row even though I had asked him to please wait a minute. The worst habit he has is the screaming (a high pitched screech is more like it)!!! I honestly don't know what else to do about that. My older boys have suggested that I use some Duck Tape & believe me.....at times I'm tempted to =) The poster board is working like a charm so far. We all make a big deal when we catch him behaving well... we clap, give high fives, & give him the money so he can put it in the "money gained" section. When he starts to misbehave, I give him 3 warnings & remind him that he's going to lose some of his hard earned money & he gets upset & says "I sowwy mami, I don't do it again". Hopefully it works because I'm running out of ideas. Good luck with your litte guy. At least we know that they'll grow out of it (the question is when)!! Have a great weekend as well.

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