Sunday, September 30, 2012

Hey, parents of older kids...

Is selective hearing and memory a common ailment in small children?  Both kids know damn well they don't go into the back room...yet they were both playing back there and throwing used kitty litter into the kittens' water bowl this morning when I caught them.  Both kids know that they're not to grab the critters by the neck...yet both have done so, multiple times per critter, since they got up from their naps at 3:00 (and it's just gone ten 'til five, here).  Both kids know damn well that they're not to stand on the couch...yet I've had to spank both of them twice today alone for that. 

And yes, they know they've done something wrong: both, when caught, run away from where they were caught as fast as they can, as if they think separating themselves from the scene of the incident means they'll not get punished for breaking the rules.

They really don't have many: don't hit/kick/push/bite each other, or the animals; don't pick up the animals by the necks; don't throw screaming temper tantrums; don't stand and/or run on the furniture; don't throw food.  Basically, the rules boil down to don't do things that will hurt them, their sibling, or their pets, don't act like a nasty little turd, and don't make messes on purpose.  The only spanking offenses are don't hurt yourself or your sibling, or the fourth offense on anything else within a waking period (morning to nap, or nap to bedtime).

Is this normal?  Is it normal for kids to earn several spankings on the same offense within the space of about an hour?

What am I doing wrong?

12 comments:

  1. In our own experience with kids and grandkids - sounds like you're "on track". :) It's just the process of testing limits. Both of our kids finally knocked it off around 6-8 or so. Hang in there - you're doing great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Lord...you mean I have between two and four more years with one, and four to six for the other????

      Pray for my sanity and patience.

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. At least it's not me screwing my kids up.

      Delete
    2. Screwing your kids up has been happening since Adam and Eve. It's a matter of degree.

      This is why I pray. A lot.

      Delete
  3. Yup. It's normal. (And in fact, you make me feel better for reading this.) If they were torturing the kittens for the enjoying their pain, that would be something to worry about. But just being nasty little pissants... no, that's what kids do. Drat them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Joel, I was glad to see you start picking up with your blog again, and was honestly hoping that you'd respond.

      How did you turn your "nasty little pissants" into pleasant people?

      Delete
  4. My niece complained to my sister about the kids throwing poop at each other. My sister could only laugh... Grandma's revenge!
    ignore amos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least mine weren't doing that--just dropping chunks of clumped cat pee into the cats' water dish.

      Delete
  5. All kids are different in that you have to find a consequence they dread. Sometimes a spanking does it and sometimes it is something they will tolerate for a moment to do a bad deed.
    They will test you limits if you let them. With my kids I did not warn them over and over and over before I acted, I said it once in a firm voice and then punished them if they continued otherwise kids learn they don't have to obey till you say it the 5th time and scream at them.
    JMHO.

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    Replies
    1. First is "Please don't do that." Second time is Mom yelling at them (which neither of them like, and often stops the behavior). Third time is time out. Fourth is spanking. Nose in the corner is a last resort for the imp--he's clausterphobic, and that strikes me as less consequence of bad behavior, and more downright torture. And even that--telling him it will happen, then doing it--doesn't always work.

      It's not that there's no consequences...it's more that sometimes, the consequences work, and others that it's ignored. The kids aren't consistent in what works, and when.

      Delete

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