CommuterMom: 3 Strikes and You’re Out
I took CommuterGirl to Barnes and Noble last weekend. She loves to play with the trains in the children’s section. Once she tires of the trains we spend a lot of time looking at books. I decided it was a good day for a special treat — both for Mommy and CommuterGirl, so we went to the Starbucks Café in the bookstore.
We got in line and CommuterGirl immediately spotted the case with juice and asked for apple juice. The line was moving slowly, but she was being pretty good so far…then it happened. CommuterGirl started running around the tables. Next thing you know, I’m balancing her apple juice and my wallet in one hand and trying to keep her from running into people with the other. I got her to stop long enough to tell her that she had two more chances to be a good girl and stand in line with Mommy or we were going to put her apple juice away and go home. Then she had one more chance. It didn’t take long before her chances were up and we had to put the juice away and go home. Needless to say, CommuterGirl was not happy and cried for apple juice the entire ride home.
Is it wrong that I was proud of myself? I didn’t give in. I gave her a warning and backed it up. Can someone tell that to the people who saw me leaving the bookstore with a screaming child?!?!
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5 comments:
You should be totally proud of yourself!!! My son is 2 and I know how hard it is, but you need to stick to your guns or they know they can get away with anything!!!
Consistenty is key.
You GO girl! Child-less patrons standing in line may not have noticed; but any parent, grandparent, good aunt/uncle, day-care provider, or anyone's that 'been there' definitely noticed. Kudos to you!
You should be proud. At this point I always ask myself "who's in control here?" It sounds like she was trying to take control of the situation and you and get the juice. This is not a criticizm. They ALL try it over and over again and all ages.
You maintained control and you should be proud of that. It's difficult. Is it possible that some people were watching you in approval, or looking for a better way to handle it themselves. If not they obviously don't have children, or don't have boundries for their children.
You did great! Keep up the good work!
I like the fact that you backed up what you said. However, the fact that you let her cry about it all the way home disturbs me. The point of setting guidelines is to direct the child. You made a stand when it came to running around the store, however, the child knows it is OK to throw fits about not being able to do something. You didn't guide her there.
You definitely did the right thing. When a child gets to that age where they truly understand yes and no, commands etc it is definitely ok. You gave her chances and she continued to misbehave so you taught her that there are consequences when she misbehaves. As far as her crying all the way home hopefully as she cried you guided her and helped her understand that you won't reward bad behavior. Kids go through this. Isn't it fun? :)
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