It’s a shame that kids don’t come with a manual. You may remember the post I wrote way back when about Princess being pushed by another tot. I was pissed, I can’t front. It’s one thing when you hear that your child was pushed, but it’s a whole other ball game seeing it all go down. However, the tables have since turned.
Now Princess is the one doing the shoving. She’s made a bunch of friends at daycare. They roll pretty tight around campus. But, they have a tendency to push each other. It happens so often, I lose track of who pushed first. I know this is a phase. I know Princess will grow out of it. But, I think it’s important to teach her right from wrong.
I dropped her off at daycare the other day, and as I was leaving I saw Princess shove one of her friends.
“That’s not nice. Say you’re sorry!” I demanded.
“No.” She responded.
“If you don’t say you’re sorry, then no TV tonight.” I said.
I asked myself, What the heck did I just do? But, then I realized that she has to learn one way or another. She’s officially on punishment. On my way home, I called my mom and filled her in on the plan of action. We decided no TV for one hour should teach her a lesson. Plus, she had to read this anti-bullying book with Grandma.
Sure enough when they got home later that evening, my mom said Princess was having so much fun reading. I thought being on punishment is supposed to be torture. That wasn’t the case for my little girl. Grandma asked if she understood why she couldn’t watch TV, Princess answered yes. I won’t read into this thing too deeply. As long as she understands why, that’s all I care about. She also read a ton of other books with Grandma.
I think she forgot all about watching TV. Hopefully, there’ll be no more episodes of pushing.
Has your little one gone through this phase? Have you ever put your toddler on punishment?
Weather Anchor Mama
My punishments tend to be immediate-I tell them to stand against the wall for a few minutes, then I call them over and ask, “why did daddy punish you?” If they can’t tell me the reason, or at least repeat it (“because pushing can hurt”), then they go back against the wall. My 2 year-old tried to play me once, but once she realised I would send back to the wall she started saying the right things. Even if she doesn’t mean it, at least she’s aware.
Nia pushes and hits other kids and us. It’s awful! I brought it up at her dr’s appt and she advised we remove her immediately from the situation/put her down if we’re holding her. It’s lessened over the past couple months since we noticed it, but we emphasize sharing over and over as well as “showing love” – how we say “being nice.” It’s crazy how violent human nature is and seeing it in a toddler is like viewing humans at their rawest form!
That’s a good one. So, it’s like time out right? When I was a kid, I remember my mom tell me to stand in a corner. I was shocked! Normally, she’d get the belt. It was torture standing in that corner. It seemed like an eternity.
I know. Sounds all too familiar. I repeat to Princess, “nice.nice” as I’m gently touching her hand, so she understands. At this point, I know she gets it. I think pushing and hitting has become her way of communicating her disapproval about something. We’ll have to keep working at it with her. Can’t wait for our girls to get together.