So when exactly do children start listening to "Stop" and "No" on a consistent basis? And I don't want any smart ass "Never" or "In 18 years" answers from you smart alecs.
The thing that makes The Girl the happiest is her freedom. Sweet, glorious freedom of the wind in her hair, the steady ground beneath her stomping feet. Release her from the binding of her stroller or car seat and onto the spacious field of openess and she will take off, laughing and giggling with no fear of falling or losing sight of her Momma and Daddy.
"Stop!" will only result in a faster gallop and a devious grin as she looks back. Luckily, my 5'4 height is not yet a disadvantage in this game of chase. A few large, quick steps on my behalf narrows the playing field but when she's really good and gets a nice head start, I'm actually running after her!
Holding hands. She does it, on her prerogative, when she wants her hand held. When she doesn't want her freedom striped from her by handholding, she will fall to the ground so that myself/The Husband cannot reach her hand, then she gets up and tries to run off.
So when do they start listening? And does punishment have to come in the mix first? We haven't started true discipline yet - we aren't push overs, we take things away, things like that but we haven't started on say, Time Out. I just think she's too young too grasp what that means. I'm figuring we could start that at 2...which is truly sooner then later.
Besides the "stop", this morning, she went upstairs as I was getting everything ready to leave in the morning. I said "Girl, time to go." and "Girl, come downstairs". When do verbal commands connect in their lil brains? I think she knows what I'm meaning. Maybe.
Where is that Parent's Handbook?
1 comment:
Every child's abilities and every parenting style is different, as I know you are completely aware. I just say this to preface what comes next so it doesn't sound like "what the hell are you doing not disciplining your child yet?"
Nathan learned "Stop" around the time walking and exploring the front yard crossed paths at 18 months. He learned pretty quickly when he hears The Voice he better damn well do what he's being told. It's the only thing we use The Voice for, and he was immediately able to equate it to mean Danger Will Robinson. Now that I am certain he knows the boundary, and that I can call him back if he chooses to cross the boundary, he has free reign of the outdoors.
As for time outs, he'd become a pro at those by the time he was one due to biting issues. He was confused at his first time out around nine months, but we kept with it as it was the only discipline method that worked against the biting problem. In a few weeks time, he knew to expect to sit on the time out bench for a minute and that we were going to have a talk and he was going to say sorry after. At that time, I think it was a tool more to diffuse the situation than anything else. By now, he gets time out for any number of things, and his reasoning is enough that I can spot him about to committ an offense and ask him, "Do you need a time out?" and he will say no and cool down.
I guess the easiest gage of his abilities were to listen to what he was saying and watch what he was doing when he thought he wasn't being supervised. He says some telling things when he thinks no one is listening...proof that I say "calm down" and "be careful" quite often. When I'm out of the room he mimics things I do - like putting clothes in the laundry basket and saying "clean up" - so I know he's watching and learning.
Maybe try the "unsupervised" thing and see where her mind takes her? It can be quite entertaining!
Post a Comment