Terrible Twos

Thanks for the email and comment feedback on my tantrum piece. Now that I’m calm, I can start thinking about the areas of improvement when it comes to discipline:

1. Consistency. There’s been a lack of it in our house. I tend to be a little more lenient than Bernard, so of course, they’re going to get mad when he stops them from doing something. For example, I let them wash their hands at the sink for as long as they want–this could mean ten minutes. Bernard gives them a reasonable half a minute or so. I need to set some rules like, I can’t hold both of the kids at the same time, period. Also, both kids have to watch the same DVD.
2. Tantrums are inevitable. I’ve been really afraid of tantrums, so I think I tend to give the kids what they want to avoid the blow-ups. But I think this just leads to more whining and crying since the kids will keep pushing the limits. If I think I’m going to do something that will lead to a tantrum, i.e. bring them inside, then I need to give them adequate warning, and then just do it.
3. Tantrum prevention. I neglected to mention that Eleanor was sick with a viral illness on the day she had the tantrum. I’m sure that made her already short fuse even shorter. Also, she was probably getting hungry too. Definitely, avoiding overtiredness and hunger and sticking to a schedule should help prevent tantrums. I also need to realize there’s a “point of no return”, where the kid almost needs to tantrum to let off steam. Being aware of this “point” will keep me from running around frantically trying to do everything I can to try to please the child.

Hopefully, these ideas will help. The problem is that when these situations actually happen, my rational thinking goes out the window. Anyway, I will update this blog with how the discipline is going.