Talking... and talking back!

Let me just start by saying that I love my son as they say "to the moon and back." But at 22-months my wonderful, loving, sweet Baby B is already talking back. I am not sure if it is early for this {isn't it called the Terrible Two's?}, but some days {when I can stop giggling at how goofy it sounds at times} it really drives me crazy. "No mommy, stop it" along with a quick swat at my face is said in my home about a dozen times a day. Ironic, that we are so excited when our children say their first words...

How to deal? Well, this being my first child and all, I am not an expert, but I have adopted a few methods of dealing with a difficult and unhappy little one. First, we are a time-out house. The first step in the typical time-out sequence is to firmly, but still lovingly tell Baby B that his behaviour is not appropriate nor acceptable in our house. The second time he repeats this behaviour, we simply remind him that what he is doing is unacceptable and that if he does it again he will get a time-out. The third occurance results in the actual time-out.

I have read that a general rule of thumb is one minute of time-out per year of age. We have a time-out mat that actually keeps track for us, and is pressure sensitive with an alarm that sounds if he gets up before the time is over. A little overkill sometimes, but better than me leaving him in time-out for a longer than appropriate time because I get busy with laundry and forget to tell him he his done. But, if we aren't around the time-out mat, any empty corner of a room will do.

Another successful way to deal with a toddler who is misbehaving, so my Today's Parent magazine tells me, is to simply remove him from what he is doing or distract him with another activity. This has had varying results, since my little guy is pretty stubborn, and when he wants something it's pretty hard to get him to forget about it.

Oh yes, my little guy is quite a talker, and many people say he talks more than most kids his age. There have been quite a few humorous moments in the past 6 months or so, and I have been trying to collect them to share with you in a later post... I am sure if most of us wrote down the cute/funny things our toddlers/preschoolers say each day we'd all have quite a book of smiles to share! Feel free to post a favourite diddy your child has said!