Anyway, what I CAN do is give you some Josie stories. She's a super funny girl who is growing up so quickly.
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We haven't done the whole time-out thing for Josephine yet. I know there are a lot of people out there who will disagree with me, but I think they (my children, specifically, not necessarily YOURS) don't understand it fully when they're very little, and since I have tension-escalator children, it seemed like a better idea to wait until they're "old enough" to get it.
Josie's been having some minor behavior issues, and the other day she did something we've been asking her again and again not to do, and I told her to go sit on her bed and take some time to calm down and I would come and get her when she was done.
As I closed the door behind me, she said -- get this -- "No! I never think about what I did! NEVER, MAMA! NEVERRRRRRR!"
Hmmm. Perhaps she IS old enough to understand the concept of a time out.
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I may have mentioned before that Josephine showed interest in using the potty when she was really young, probably 18 months, and was doing great, and then one day she freaked out and stopped doing it. We kept the potty out and kept asking her if she wanted to use it but basically let her decide when she was interested and all that, and THEN one day about six months ago she looked me in the eye and told me "I never use the potty ever again. Never ever again. Never again, mama." It took all my willpower not to ask "Sooo ... never again?"
So, we just let her decide when she wanted to use it and suddenly, almost a month ago exactly, she told me she wanted to wear her underwear. When I put it on, she shouted "AND NEVER DIAPERS AGAIN!" ... and she was serious. She's had four accidents total since her declaration and they were all in the first two days. It's been all underwear, all the time. In the past week she's even taken to not telling me and just running to the bathroom, doing it all by herself, then running out for praise.
I shouldn't be all that shocked, since that's just the kind of kid she is. She'll do it when SHE decides to, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, and not a moment sooner.
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She's also ... I hate to say it because it sounds so bad ... learning how to be manipulative. It only took her about a week to realize with her new-found potty skills came a great deal of power. If she shouts "I NEED TO MAKE PEE PEE!" nothing can stand in the way of me hustling her to the nearest potty ... even her closed door after bedtime. Sigh. Week two of no diapers saw a minimum of seven potty trips in the half hour after bedtime.
We started talking to her about getting it all out before bed and only getting up for emergencies and started making the potty visits very boring in an attempt to get her to give up on them. We tell her she can't talk so she won't wake up Genevieve and we don't interact with her unless necessary.
However, she quickly learned how to crack our stoic exteriors. And she even knows that what works for daddy doesn't work for mama and vice versa! All she has to do is make daddy laugh and tell mama "I love you so so much, sweetie! Let's hug and snuggle!" She's an evil genius.
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She figured out the new "time out" system pretty quickly. She goes to her room, sits on her bed, calms down, and comes out a few minutes later with a big smile and says "How can I help, mama?" It's a line from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and I love it. In that episode, they talked about if saying sorry isn't enough, you should ask how you can help. She applied it to this situation all on her own, and I take full advantage of it. "Thanks for asking! How about you pick up all these toys off the floor and put them where they belong?"
Except ... the other day I told her to go calm down in her room, and a few quiet minutes later I went in to check on her, all proud of her, and found her in Genevieve's room. Doing this:
You have no idea how many times I've found the books in their bedrooms lined up like this. It's a good thing she likes to clean up.
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She is really into talking to me about driving. After she mastered the red light, yellow light, green light and stop sign rules, she learned about left and right, and whenever we come to a stop, she asks if we're going to go left, right, or straight ahead. The other day I told her we were going to turn left, and then as I did, she shouted, "YAY, mama! You knew it!" So ... maybe she thinks I'm just guessing which way we're going and always getting it right as opposed to steering the car?
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We met a new doctor the other day, and she said and did some hilarious things. Two of my favorites were when she told the doctor she could do a somersault, he asked to see one, and she paused and said, "Yeah ... but dis floor is pretty dirty." Good call.
When he said she was almost three, she said, "But I'm TWO right now." He said, "You're pretty smart," and she nodded sagely and said, "Yeah, and really big, too."
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She's pretty great, you guys. Now get pumped about getting a Genevieve update! (someday)
