The Loophole

Aedan has the makings for a good attorney - he is finding out (even at age almost-two) that my arguments are sometimes full of loopholes...

Yesterday marked a very mischievous day in Aedan's life. He managed to color crayon over wall and mirror plus empty a whole box of tissues, all within 10 minutes total.

Later in the afternoon we drove to Neal's parent's place to spend the night before going to the temple. Neal's mom has a basket full of decorative balls and now Aedan is tall enough to reach them but not old enough to distinguish between balls for looks and balls for play. Well, he started throwing them last night and after some warnings I sat him down on the couch and began the time-out sequence.

Time-out has not been the most effective in terms of discipline but they have opened the doors for many teaching moments. For example, he learned to count to 20 from his time-outs... the counting is more or less to diffuse any pent up rage (we both need it sometimes). Lately it seems like he forgets what he is in time-out for (he is, afterall, still a toddler) and/or he just doesn't listen to what I am saying. To solve this I will say something simple that he can remember like "No hitting" or "Let's take turns" and have him repeat it back to me.

So time out yesterday went like this: sit him down on the couch, tell him "no throwing grandma's balls", have him count. Then I said, "Aedan, no throwing grandma's balls. Now you say it." Aedan very obediently said, "no throwing grandma's balls." Ok, we have an accord.

Aedan hops off the couch and begins to walk away when I hear him say this:

"I'll roll it"