TIME OUT!!

We've been relying on time-outs as our main form of "discipline" for Jake. However, they were not very effective and generally resulted in more frustration on our end. The main problem was (and it's totally our fault) we had never enforced the whole "you stay here until your 3 minute time out is over", a la Supernanny. So instead of making him learn to sit still & take his time out, we would pretty much hold him in place.

This was becoming a huge problem for many reasons. First of all, there was screaming involved (Jake), crying (Jake and sometimes me), as well as headaches and frustration (anyone within earshot of this scene). And the biggest problem (at least for me) is that Jake is strong-willed AND very strong, physically. He was hard to hold during the time-outs, and us trying to keep him still seemed to make the situation escalate far beyond how it started.

So, not too long ago, we decided that enough was enough & he was plenty old enough to figure out how to do this whole thing the "right" way (because Supernanny is always right, right??) So after an offense, Brian carted him off to the bottom step on our staircase & explained to him what was about to happen. We set the timer for 3 minutes; 30 seconds in, Jake tried to get away. Timer reset. 15 seconds in, escape attempt; timer reset. Rinse, lather & repeat for about 20-25 minutes. FINALLY, he sat there for the full 3 minutes, we reminded him why he was in time out, passed out "I love you's" and hugs and moved on with our day.

I'm sure progress might be slow & painful, but the end result will be worth it!! Please feel free to leave words of encouragement in the comments section, as a form of motivation for me to stick with it, especially when the inevitable happens, and it's me by myself with a newborn AND a strong-willed child, trying to reinforce this concept.......hold me.