Time Out

Lately we think Jaycie is trying to get into her terrible twos a little early or just overall learning her independence. She has begun to tell me ( and anyone else) "NNNOO". I've tried telling her it's not nice to say that and just to say no thank you. She also likes to say other words with the same emphasis, like "MMOOOVE" or "RRUUN" or "TWIIII" (Twister - our cat). You can even hear her in her crib talking to herself using this same emphasis on words - not sure who she is talking to in there though!! So I'm hoping it is just a phase in which she has found her voice control and it will go away - hopefully sooner than later!

Also normally her and our cat Twister are best buds, but lately she has liked the idea of pulling his tail!! Which he does not appreciate at all!! He hisses (never has bitten her) and she laughs! So I guesss she thinks it is a game. I usually try to remove her from the situation and tell her not to do that, but she generally just laughs at the idea! This from the little girl who generally minds very well!


So tonight when she did it the first time, I tried removing her from the situation and telling her not to do that, that it wasn't nice and it hurt Twister. But her and Twister were playing, so she went back over to him and eventually pulled his tail again. So, I picked her up and told her that I told her not to pull his tail. I told her I was putting her in time out in our rocker and told her she had to sit there til I came back for her. I told her she was in trouble for pulling Twister's tail and she's not suppose to do that. She sat there for her minute and a half, sometimes calling Mama, sometimes calling help. But she listened to me and stayed sitting there til I came back. I came back and got her out and again told her why she was in time out and told her she could get down now and not to pull Twister's tail again.


A few minutes later Daddy caught her pulling his tail again and he said "Jaycie". She immediately got up, looked at us, said "chair" and walked over to the rocker and asked for help to get into it. I (after hiding and laughing in the kitchen!) came over and again told her why she was in time out and that she's not suppose to pull his tail, and I'd come get her when she could get down. I think she thought is was a game itself and she was amused by this whole idea. She did sit there again and didn't get down. She would say "mama" or "help" (meaning she wanted help to get down!) but she sat there like I told her to.

I sure hope she continues to go into time out so easily!! What a good kid to know when she has done something wrong and put herself in time out!!! Or maybe that just means that timeouts aren't going to mean much to her and not work for us!! Guess we'll see!