a Dr. Laura moment

Yesterday WonderGirl did not nap, then the missionaries popped in that night and her bedtime was pushed back about an hour.  So by the time Husband was trying to get her to bed, she had a full-on meltdown.  I have no idea what it was about - I think she was screaming something about juice.  I was trying to feed and sleepify the Dude, so I was just listening to the crazy.  She was in her room alone since we don’t allow her tantrums anywhere else in the house.  You need to scream like an animal?  You don’t get an audience.  And she adores an audience.  What tantruming kid doesn’t love an audience? 

When it was apparent she was going to tear the walls down, I about lost control and announced I was going to go in there and tear her head off, but Husband stopped me and calmly went into her room, picked her up, carried her into the bathroom and dropped her in a cold tub full of water.  It was the perfect SNAP OUT OF IT move, I was so crazy impressed with him.  As she stood there sputtering and all confused like a drowned rat, he calmly explained why he did what he did and what her consequences were.  And she got it.  She went down like a light after that.

Here’s my take on discipline - the kid has got to know there are consequences to their actions.  And I don’t just mean they get their favorite toy taken away or have to stand in a corner - they have to know that people, especially parents, have breaking points.  I have a temper, she knows it and I know it - and when she complains about how I yelled at her the other day, we talk about WHY mommy got to that point.  If you disobey mommy repeatedly, if you do the scream-y thing and behave the way you see those monster kids at church behave, mommy WILL break at some point and yell, since you obviously didn’t hear me the first 3 times I said to stop.  Because mommy is a HUMAN BEING and has feelings and faults, despite adoring the heck out of you.  And when WG starts acting up, I remind her what the consequence is for treating mommy that way, and most times she stops dead in her tracks.  Snappy mommy is freaky, dagnabit, and she needs to know that, for both our sakes.  One thing I do know about dogs is you don’t touch their food bowl while they’re eating or push them too much when you are teasing them, because out of instinct, they’ll attack to protect themselves.  Humans are the same way, and I’ll be darned if I’m letting my daughter out in the world without knowing that fact.

And when she’s behaving properly, I let her know it profusely. 

So last night as I sat there trying to feed the Dude and I heard the giant splash of water and the sound of my daughter overcoming her tired rage to realize she’d gone too far, I smiled.  It’s one thing to figure out your stand on how to teach and discipline your kid, but it’s another thing entirely to know your kid’s Baby Daddy is on the same page.

NaBloPoMo day 3 in the bag!