Discipline

I have reached that dreaded moment that every parent wishes they never have to do..

DISCIPLINING MY CHILD

Ugh just the words make me want to give up and I haven't even really gotten started with it! To be honest I was just hoping to have one of those sweet boys. You know the ones that don't hit, bite or throw HUGE tantrums in the middle of the aisle at HyVee. I am beginning to think that "those boys" or even girls for that matter may not exist! And if they do..well way to go for those parents. You have lucked out!

John's tantrums began badly about a week ago. Throwing himself on the ground when he doesn't get his way was something that I was confused about at first. I kept thinking who are you and what have you done with John. Then I thought oh well he is getting a tooth so maybe he is just in pain and that is why isn't acting normal. We went out of town and to be honest he was a little angel. He had his moments but otherwise he was extremely good. So I thought oh it must have been his teeth.

Boy was I WRONG!! Monday night we went over to see Sean's Grandparents who were back from the Ozarks. John was beyond a little turkey. Screaming, throwing his tray to his high chair on the floor, not listening (you usually listens well) and throwing himself around.

Tuesday came and went and I didn't notice too big of a difference in his behavior. He played nicely never really threw a tantrum. He was clingy to me but that is John...A Mama's boy through and through. And NO I am not complaining!! Wednesday on the other hand brought on a new territory I had yet to discover..John began hitting me! I had seen him do it one other time to my friend Tiffany when she asked for a kiss and he went up to her and smacked her..then laughed about it! Not funny to a mommy who wants a sweet little boy!!

So I began thinking...
How can I discipline a 13 month year old?
 Is it even possible?
How is it that I am dealing with discipline when he is only 13 months old?

 I have been thinking about it for days now. It finally hit a head when he spent the night at his GG's and Papa's (my parents) Friday Night. I went to pick him up and was listening to everything he had done. I am one of those mom's that loves to get ALL the details of my time away from John, probably to a point of annoying people :) So my mom is going on about how he is was so funny, played, ate, tried to pinch his Grandma Great, climbed on the furniture, played, talked a lot, played, and bite his Papa....

WHAT REWIND?!?!!? Tried to pinch his Grandma Great and bite his Papa? The shear embarrassment was more than I could have fathomed.  No I wasn't mad just embarrassed.  Luckily for me they were family members and knew that John could be such a sweet boy.

So the thinking was over it was time to take action. I decided that we would try mini's...Not quite a timeout but more a moment to think about what we have done. So I waited all day for John to do something that he was not supposed to do..I waited and waited and sure enough as we were approaching dinner time.

He HIT ME, right square in the face...enough to make my eyes water. Did it hurt? No, was I upset HELL YES!!

So we did the mini....

I put him down with his back in the couch, put his legs straight, made eye contact and said "You are getting a mini because you hit Mommy" Of course he tried to throw himself around but I held his legs down, once he calmed down (literally 5 seconds, probably when he realized he wasn't going to win this fight) I had him look at me again, I counted "One, Two, Three" then said "We do not hit Mommy, we use nice hands." Then let him up..What do you think he did next...
'
WHAM HIT ME RIGHT IN MY FACE!!!

True test to motherhood at that moment. I wanted to curl into a ball and bawl. Then I realized I had to stick to my guns with this issue otherwise I would be having the same fight for the next 5 years. So we did the whole mini process again. After we were done he got up and I thought he was going to hit me again, but instead he had gave me a kiss and a hug.  What?!!? I thought well maybe he got the point. Needless to say we did the mini thing a total of 4 times last night. By the 4th time, which he got for biting Mommy because I took my phone away from him.  He didn't fuss, just sat there looked up at me while I counted and then got up and continued on.

So here is to Sunday....Hoping that there will be no mini's in my future. Hoping was the keyword in that sentence. I have prepared myself for a strict no tolerance attitude, not second chances, just a mini right away so we can hit this on the head. I know I will have a lot more disciplining to do in my lifetime with John. I didn't think it would start so early but what can I say my son is just like me.

STRONG WILLED!!

Found this on pinterest and I will be making a chair with this sang..It may just be sooner than I expected :)

Dear John,
When you are reading this and are older, I think you should buy your mom some roses for putting up with you :) I hope you know I love being your mommy even the difficult moments.  I know we are going to have some battles but just know I will always love you :)