Time out!

Henry in self-mandated “time out.” And yes, we call that the naughty step, because who doesn’t get their best child-rearing tactics from reality TV. The blue stool is his own touch.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT YESTERDAY

A) Henry sobbed for the entire 11-minute drive home from swimming lessons, because I didn’t wait long enough (like til he turned five) for him to mature enough to buckle his own buckle on his car seat. Even though I gave him ample time to practice and explained why he couldn’t ride home working on his buckle. “Henry’s turn! Henry’s turn!”

B) Henry sobbed dramatically over I can’t remember what, but it lasted a good 10 minutes and was highlighted by a repeating loop of him hurling himself into my arms and then running away. And tearfully reporting, “Henry’s turn! Henry’s turn!”

C) Will had a juice box with his lunch at nursery school as a Special Treat (Will usually takes his favorite Sigg bottle with cars with water for lunch) and then at snack had juice and milk. Having had a few Special Treats in the past few months, I am now seeing a pattern—juice does something v. bizarre to his bladder, and he Can’t. Make. It. To. The. Potty. In. Time!

This was all just a long buildup to saying my almost-four-year-old wet himself FOUR times yesterday afternoon, with three more near misses. We both finally agreed that, “All the pee MUST be gone by now, right Mom?”

D) Henry put himself in “time out” and then sobbed mightily when I suggested it was over and time to go upstairs for bed. (Henry has never had a time out, but likes to throw himself dramatically on the Naughty Step and declare “Time out!” Just you wait, Henry.)

E) When changing Henry for bed, he insisted on sitting on the potty, and then cried when, after five minutes of hopping up and down and no business, I suggested it was time for his diaper and pajamas. He’s getting very good at this two-year-old stuff and, as I remind him, he is only 23 months.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT TODAY

A) I’m leaving for my college reunion.

B) Alone.

C) Mommy’s having a time out.

I will miss you terribly, boys, but you will have a great time with Daddy.

Give him a break, will you? Because he has to live with the knowledge that NO ONE WILL BE WAKING ME UP AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING FOR TWO DAYS IN A ROW.

Tags: discipline, Henry, peeing, Potty training, SuperNanny, terrible twos, time out, toddlers