A Little Time Out

Lets talk about whining and crying...Whining and crying for no apparent reason drives me insane (ironic because I know how to whine really well). When I was little I know I drove my parents crazy. I would whine and cry every time my brother said something mean or wouldn't let me play with him and as I recall he picked on me and didn't let me play with him very much, so my whining and crying must have been heard alot (sorry Chad...no mercy on this one). However, I am thankful that my parents tried to guide me by helping me learn to ignore some of the worlds external annoyances and verbalize what I could not ignore (its still a work in progress, except now my sweet husband helps me keep my tone down!)

As for my dear sweet daughter, I too have to help her learn to verbalize her frustrations. She is learning language (and has an exploding vocabulary) but she still needs our help to express her feelings (and 2-year olds have lots of feelings). So to help her "get a grip" I implemented time out last week. I am using the bottom two stairs on the staircase for her time out spot (its perfect because I can still see her from almost any angle of the den or kitchen, but she can't always see me and there is absolutely nothing to do anywhere near the staircase--so its rather a boring place). She learned really quickly what time out was and therefore in a 6 or 7 day time period she has only had to sit there three times! This is how the scenario sounds, "Analayne, no more whining. Use your words." When the whining persists, I tell her she will have to sit in time out and I pick her up and carry her over to her spot and say, "Analayne, when you are finished crying and whining you can get up." She sits there and continues on for about 20 seconds and then just stops puts a smile on her face and gets up and comes to me. I greet her as if I am excited to see her and we move on. Which brings me to thinking....if time out works so well, maybe everyone in the entire world needs to sit in some time out to get a grip. Next time I am losing my cool...I am heading for the stairs, literally!