Discipline?

Oh Lordy. Jeff and I have created a monster. He’s a 13 month old terrible two year old with the attitude of a 16 year old. Make sense? And yet he can be the sweetest, most giggly, charming boy. I can’t say that this is a surprise. Jeff and I aren’t exactly the most laid back, easy-peasy kind of folks. We both have zero patience, no tolerance for idiots and, well, like to get our way and the last word. Not the most attractive qualities to pass on to your off-spring. I’ve been reading lots of articles about discipline but I always come back to the question – “How will any of these methods work on a kid who has his own agenda”. Now I’m not talking about completely unmanageable, destined for military school types of issues. Just your run of the mill, mind of his own kind of stuff. I guess I’m surprised that’s its surfaced so early. I probably shouldn’t say that out loud because I’m sure that those of you with kids who have passed this stage are shaking your head and thinking I’m so naive.

Jeff and I are definitely on the same page about the no spanking rule. I just can’t bring myself to think that its okay to hit my child. I know that LOTS of parents who disagree and yes, my parents were spankers but my brother and I were very rarely on the receiving end of this. It was so rare that I can’t actually remember one time that they spanked me. Maybe they weren’t spankers….anyway, I digress. I have this idea that if we “lay our hands” on him, he will think that is okay to do when he is mad. Mr. Mighty Chompers is bad enough; we shouldn’t create any sort of environment that would cause him throw punches at the sitter’s house.

So how am I going to teach my child(ren) right from wrong? I don’t know yet. I’m quite certain that there will be a lot of talking involved. I do have my masters in psychology and people like me want to talk about feelings, motivation, blah, blah, blah…Jeff is in sales (and darn good at it, if I do say so myself) so maybe we can just talk our kids into submission.