Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Water therapy

Nothing like pouring water over your childs head to get his attention. Lately Jacob has been breaking down and having fits. I don't remember what his issue was at the time. But we had just gotten in from a walk and he rode is bike and he complained and whined the WHOLE time. Then it didn't help that Brooke cried the whole time. She's starting that whole great, "I'm 2 and if I don't get my way, you'll HEAR about it" crying thing. So the walk wasn't pleasant.

Then Jacob demands, yes demands, chocolate milk and water. I had kids crying and they wanted their milk so I gave him chocolate milk and was working on the babies and he threw a fit. I gave him water and he started yelling and then I picked up the water and raised it over his head because he was trying to grab it and also was hit me at the same time. So, instead of smacking him senseless or kicking him (which is what 2 year olds do), I poured the water over his head. Well, it did stop the tirade. I sent him up to his room and on the way up he smacked John in the head and he started crying. Its not like him to hit John. That's his current favorite. Boy, did I see red.

The short of it was that he stayed up in his room. He did apologize and tell me he'd listen. But we had a talk about doing what I say, before he gets sent up to his room, not just after. He did stay up there for awhile and when I asked him what he was doing he said that I had hurt his feelings. And then when he finally came down he told me he didn't want a plate put on his head anymore. You know, it wasn't a plate, it was water.

I think tomorrow if he's not good, I'm taking his worms away. He took them to school today along with his tackle box for show-and-tell. I asked him how the kids liked the worms. He said no one liked them because they didn't move. He was pretty disappointed.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a perfect parent. So pouring water over his head really made me upset for losing my temper. But I also don't want to be hit.)

2 comments:

debi9kids said...

Hey, if it worked...
I must admit, I have been guilty of things along the same line of pouring water....
UGH! My babies are just starting to hit that "cry if they don't get their way" stage...

Anonymous said...

What is it with these near 5 year olds that we have! My kids too have just lately decided to step things up a notch and try to show me who's boss. Don't feel guilty about the water thing ... actually, it was pretty creative and quite harmless! You got his attention in a manner that didn't injure him.