Last night, Timothy, the fuss-pot (as he has become known), was told to pick up his toys. When he did, he’d get back his blanket.

Well…

“I don’t _WANT_ to pick up my toys!”

“Do you want to go to bed without blanket?”

“Uh-huh…”

So we go upstairs, have a bath, brush teeth, read a book, have a bible story and go to bed. (the 5 ‘B’s). Timothy then decides he wants his blanket.

“But, I want my blanket!”

“Timothy, you decided not to pick up your toys, so you don’t get your blanket.”

“I want to go pick up my toys!!”

“Timothy, you made a choice, now you have to live with it.”

We head down stairs and for 30 minutes (!) he cries and wails about “blanket.” Andrea and I discuss how this might not be the best way to punish him anyway–we want him to not want his blanket, not for it to be a reward to get back–enforcing the connection. I hear that he’s out near the door of his room, so I walk upstairs.

I open the door and bump him (he’s right behind it)… He runs to his bed, afraid of a spanking. I go sit down next to him and give him a big hug.

“Timothy, calm down.”

“Oooookaaaaaaay…. *sniff*”

“Timothy, I will make you a deal. You can go downstairs without fussing, pick up your toys quickly without fussing and without playing with them and get your blankets and go straight to bed.”

“Okay.”

And you know what? He did EXACTLY that. He did not make a peep. Every time that I asked him to pick up a particular toy, he just did it. It was bizarre. But desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.

Anyway, I’m a sucker and a pushover, I know. But even Daddies can make mistakes.

Bethany is a little toot sometimes. Timothy at least understands the order of things and just fusses to get his way, but Bethany, she sometimes doesn’t get how things work.

For instance…

“Bethany, eat your eggs and you can have more of your juice”

<insert loud screaming here/>

“Bethany, all you have to do is eat a bite of egg and you can have more juice!”

“No! I Mommy!”

Rinse, lather, repeat.

Of course, a few minutes later…

“Bethany, you’re not Mommy, you’re Bethany!” Timothy says.

“No! I Mommy!”

We then proceed to go around the table and ask who everybody is… “Are you Daddy, Timothy? Are you Daddy, Mommy?” and everyone answers… but we get to Bethany. “Baby girl, are you Bethany?”

You guessed it.

“No! I Mommy!”

The power struggle begins.

more…