Time-out

We've started implementing time-outs with Addy when she does something wrong.  Here's how it is supposed to work:

-Addy does something she is not supposed to do.  She gets a warning and she'll go into time-out if she does it again.

-Addy does it again.  We set out her little time-out mat and set her down in it.

-Addy sits there for one minute per year she has been alive (I'm kinda dreading her 2nd birthday...).  If she leaves her spot, we reset the minute.

-When it's over, we tell her why she was in time-out again, tell her not to do it, say we love her, and give her a hug and a kiss.

Now it usually works where she's testing us... seeing how far off the mat she can get before we reset, or running back to the mat when she sees she's gone too far.  She laughs - it's a game.  At least, until about the 15th time we've had to start over... then she's crying.  Eventually she sits there the full minute and more often than not she doesn't do the incorrect behavior again. At least, not for a few hours.

We're still working on some behaviors, like pulling the DVDs, Blue-Rays, and CDs out or standing on her table.  To be honest, I'm not sure how to make her understand that these are unacceptable behaviors so she won't do them again.  That got me thinking.

When I was a kid, I was spanked a few times, but it was usually the THREAT of being spanked that stopped me from doing something.  It's the same with Addy.  We tell her that if she does it again, she'll go into time-out, and usually she stops.  Just a minute ago, she was sitting next to me, watching me write this, with her hand raised in the air.  She was prepared to hit the computer - one of her favorite pastimes.  I told her if she did she'd go into time-out and she dropped her hand, did a little disappointed pouty face, and wandered off.

I'm not sure how long our society has favored things like time-out over other punishments, or if it's always been there.  It seems to me that we always have these punishments, even as adults.

If I broke the rules (say, robbed a bank), I'd go away to "time-out" (prison) for a while (a long while).  And I'm sure that the threat of going to jail prevents a lot of crimes.  Just a thought.

Beamline Day The Last

It has finally come to an end!  Amy will be returning home tonight!  Granted, her flight gets in at around 10:30-ish... and then she has about an hour drive to get here, and she's only had about 4 hours of sleep in the last 36...  Well, she may get here tomorrow... by a few minutes.

All last month I'd been trying to get together with a fellow stay-at-home-dad in the same area.  We met at the Botanical Gardens, but we've been too busy to really let our kids (both girls around the same age) have any play dates together.  Last week it was icing, so we cancelled.  This week, well...

Addy has been having a runny nose for a few days now, ever since the storms hit on Tuesday.  I figured it was part of teething or the cold weather.  Yesterday they didn't let up, but I wasn't too concerned.  But this morning it was a little worse, and she was even warmer.  Since she's not been getting better, I figured it was time to go to the doctor's.  OK, my wife suggested it, but I would have gotten around to it!

Addy was good in the car to the doctor's.  She was running around the waiting room, playing hide-and-seek with herself in the mirror and exploring the bathroom.  But the moment the nurse practitioner opened the door, she screamed and ran to me.  She threw her arms around me tightly and would NOT let go, even for them to take her weight.  I guess she remembers those shots...

I was able to calm her down with the doctor came in to see us and she was mostly fine from then on, but the doc gave us less-than-pleasant news.  It turns out that, yes, Addy is bona fide sick.  RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is apparently going around, and Addy got it.  To us adults, it's like a cold.  To her, it's a bad cold that might last a couple of weeks!  And to top it off, both of her ears have ear infections.  She probably got it from the play ground we went to on Monday.  I hope everyone there is alright.  Of course, I probably have it too, and now I'm convinced I have ear sympathy pains.

So now I know why she hasn't been sleeping so well and has been fussier than normal.  I get the antibiotics and saline nose spray, run a few chores, and then head home.  I dont' want to be out in the cold for very long with a sick toddler!  This means that I will instead be homebound all day with a sick toddler.  Joy of joys.

Did you catch that sarcasm?  Cause I was laying it on pretty thick right there.

I was hoping that the antibiotic would put her to sleep, but it seems to be made out of red bull and fairy dust.  After a rather normal, albeit late, lunch, she was bouncing off the walls.  Normally she's out pretty fast, especially when I rock with her and sing.  This time, she was more interested in tickling my arm, pulling on my facial hair, swinging any limbs that she could, twisting in circles, reading the same book 10 times, and pointing out that there were no kitties in the room at that moment and there most certainly should be.  I finally gave up and put her into her crib at around 2, hoping she'll just calm down and sleep.  At 2:30, I realize that the contact complaining from her room is not going to end, and when I walk in she's even more awake than ever.  Just... shoot me.

I can hardly describe what it is like to be homebound for the 3rd day with a sleepless, sick toddler while I'm feeling sleepless and sick myself, missing Amy, and starting to feel a mixture of ennui and depression coming on.  Thankfully, we were able to have a decent dinner and she seems to have gone down for the night fairly well.

If it seems from these last few posts that Addy is a terrible child or that I am a pessimistic, terrible parent, please realize that this is only what I'm letting you see.  She's actually a joy to be around 90% of the time... ok, 80%.  I also know things could easily get much worse... for instance, I only have one child.  One of my facebook friends was talking about having to deal with 3 and a puppy, with biting, vomit, and other unpleasantries all around.  I am grateful, I really am.  But I also really cannot wait to see my wife and get some me time again.


PS - I mentioned vomit again.  Let's see if this boosts my page views.