Thursday, October 1, 2009

Rebellion

Evie's negotiation skills are going downhill.

We have this wild and crazy rule in our home: You may not throw food. You can't throw it across the table, can't throw it to the dog, can't throw it on the floor. No food throwing, are we clear?

But this rule must be unreasonable to a two-year-old. Most of Evie's Time Outs are for one of two things - bothering the dog, or throwing food. Last night was no exception. Evie threw an apple slice across the table. I warned her, and Chris gave her a lecture. "You are not allowed to throw food. Mommy gave you a warning, but no more warnings. If you throw food, you will go in Time Out. Mommy and I are on the same page here, food throwing gets you a Time Out. Capiche?" And Evie pretended to understand.

A few minutes later, she sent the apple slice sailing to the floor.

Me: Okay, you threw the apple on the floor. You are going in Time Out.
Evie: I don't want to go in Time Out.
Chris: You know the rules, and you already got a warning. You are going in Time Out.
Evie: No! I don't want a Time Out!
Me: Too bad, you shouldn't have thrown the apple.
Evie: (sitting in the Time Out chair) But I don't want to sit in Time Out!
Me: We're not talking anymore. Be quiet and sit there for two minutes.
Evie: No! I'll sit here for FIVE MINUTES!

I think we may need to work on her concept of time...

9 comments:

Heather @CritterChronicles said...

Oh yes, two-year-olds. They're just wonderful, right?

The rule in our house is that if food is thrown, it gets taken away. End of meal, whether the food was thrown at the end of the meal or the beginning. And then - gasp! - no snacks between then and the next meal.

We had a couple of days with very cranky baby and very cranky mommy... but both of my kiddos learned very quickly that throwing food was unacceptable. I think it also helped that the consequence was directly linked to the offense... that really helped nail the point home.

(And yeah, even at almost 6 my daughter sometimes negotiates UP with time-outs. She's not so thrilled when she realizes what that means!)

Prasti said...

ROFL! how do you respond to that? emma does something similar when we tell her to take more bites of her food. we say: "ok, take 2 more bites and you can be done w/ dinner." she says: "no 5 (major emphasis on the 5) more bites. i want 5 more bites." it's settled.

JOYFUL447 said...

ha. that's great! And i can totally hear Chris' voice when you reiterated his "lecture" - especially Capiche. So funny.

Momisodes said...

Oh, yes. The testing phase. It's enough to make anyone want to pull their hair out.

I hate to admit that my 4-year old still has yet to grow out of this phase...and she still has no concept of time either.

casual friday every day said...

I feel for you. I'm still on the phase and have been since he was a year and a half --- he is about to turn 3. I hope it isn't as long for you!

Nell

Unknown said...

What a little negotiator! :)

Mary/Mommyof5! said...

That's awesome! Trust me- you'll miss these moments when she's a teen!

Alexandra said...

how funny!!!!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh hon, you are just in training for the teen years! :o)

She is such a sweetie. Have a fantastic Monday free of negotiations! God Bless