discipline has entered the triumverate’s echelon.

annoyingly, but understandably, each child has a form of discipline that they respond best to.

how well do you know them?

WHEN IN NEED OF DISCIPLINING and MAKING A POINT THAT THEY NEED TO SHAPE UP…

1) jasper best responds to

2) sela best responds to

3) carys best responds to

a) being removed from the scene

b) having the item removed from them

c) being told NO! in a rather stern voice

it’s jasper’s turn to feel the imprint of mum’s thumb on his head. he becomes an unreasonable wailer at times. today at lunch i was smart enough to figure out that he was screaming because he had reached the end of his little tether, and i just put him to bed without lunch. two minutes after placing him in bed, he was asleep. but exhaustion is not always the culprint…and jasper needs to learn that screaming will not get him picked up or immediate attention.

sela, she of the iron lungs and angry cries, was the first to try the screaming for attention scheme.  we managed to train her out of it, and now she is realising that she gets a lot more, a lot faster, by being charming. she’s blowing kisses, saying peas and fank you, grinning and generally licking up in a fashion that makes me wonder if politics are in her future. but it is effective.

carys still gets her own way by practicing her effective, don’t ask, just do. sort of the nike slogan for delinquents.  quietly quietly, she will slip a toy off a shelf, open a door that she knows it meant to be shut, pull a tail attached to a cat. if she wants something that requires adult intervention, she is a genius at just appearing plucking at your pants or tugging your hand, and looking at the desired item inquistively with her glistening blue eyes. of the three, she needs the most prompting to say please and thank you, but when she does, it comes out in a hoarse whisper.

sebastian, sela and carys have each thrown about three tantrums in their lives, so now that jasper is getting to the unreasonable throw yourself down on the floor stage, i am ready for it. i feel so much more prepared to handle bedtimes and tantrums and teaching manners than other things like teaching to respect feelings. repetition is monotonous and tiring, but it does not require skill.  tess=tired, check. can say the same thing over and over again, check. has little skill? check.

hence, i find myself qualified.