Day of Discipline

We had a full DAY of discipline on Wednesday which left me feeling completely icky and drained by the time I had to leave the house for work after dinner. A friend actually asked me that night, "Um, you didn't think you'd have days like that?" Well, yes, I know children test their parents but I am still exasperated at the sheer relentless of their goal! Does James go to naptime prepared to make tons of noise?!?!?! I really don't think so but he knows the choices and he is choosing option 3...there is no option 3! James has been having a real hard time being quite during naptime since we changed the rules about it. I recognized that he may not need a nap everyday so I reduced naptime to an hour and told him he could rest or play QUIETLY in his room. After a week or so of not-so-quite nap hours, I told James that I had made a mistake, "Playing during naptime is not such a good idea. It's so hard to be quite. So you can read your books or rest.". Wednesday I walked down the hall 3 times and was just at my wits end. I need that quite time and I want him to have some time during the day to just stop and be still. He played with his joke machine...it tells knock-knock jokes and the like. As I tore down the hall, I got the idea to leave the door open. Apparently he thinks I can't hear anything if his door is closed. Silence. For 15 whole minutes. When he came into my room to tell me his clock was yellow, I had a thought. He needs to understand what it feels like to stay up until midnight like Mommy does. We couldn't do it on Thursday night so it was a delayed consequence. I told him the plan and he was excited! He even thanked me for letting him stay up all night long yesterday afternoon. By 6pm last night, he asked me when was midnight. I responded, "Oh. You have 6 more hours before bedtime James.". Silence. By 8:30 he was jumping and dancing around the living room. This is a tell-tell sign of a young child getting tired. They won't be still. They're afraid they might fall asleep if they stop and that is unacceptable. By 9:15, the mood was quite different.
"Mommy, is it bedtime yet?", he asks with a little concern in his voice. I check the clock. "Oh no sweetheart. You have about 2 and a half hours left to go before midnight.".
"But I am tired Mommy.", he groans.
"I know Sweetheart. It's so hard to stay up late when you don't have a nap."

Then came the waterworks and the one-liners that made me laugh outloud! It's now about 9:45pm and he is really REALLY tired. He is laying on the landing upstairs watching TV with me and begging me to "change my rule" so he can go to bed. He tells me, "My whole darn body is so tired! I need rest Mommy!" and I died laughing! He was really pitiful and every time he told me he was tired, I would say something to show empathy. It wouldn't have worked to tell him, "See! Now do you understand about Mommy being tired! Naptime is quiet time!" At 11pm I put him to bed. He was so glad. We are going to do naptime today to reinforce the lesson. I will gently remind him, "We can stay up all night again...if you want to. I will know you want to if you are making noise during naptime. See you in an hour.". Interestingly, he never tried to put HIMSELF to bed. I was waiting for that. I guess it's just not the same if Mommy or Daddy aren't turning on the music and his stars. And the kisses. Can't forget the kisses.

Tot Clock. Love me a Tot Clock!