Thursday, March 26, 2009

Parenting Vs. Taking Care Of...


We knew it would happen. Our little prince is starting to get opinions, demands, and desires. That cute little pointing trick he used to do? Now it's a fast point followed with a loud "arghhh" sound (which is cool if he were a pirate, not cool since he isn't). If he doesn't get whatever it is he thinks he needs, it quickly turns into a louder arghh and possibly fake tears. This had made me realize that up until now, we were simply "taking care" of Bennet. Now, it's starting to be true "Parenting." Do you respond to his grunts and yells? Every time I do, it's positive reinforcement to do it again next time. His tamtrums are harder to ignore because rather than lie on the floor and scream, he gets up, walks over to my legs, and holds on while screaming bloody murder. I can't move, can't pick him up (don't want to reinforce the tantrum), and can't spend the next 10 minutes standing still waiting for him to stop. I end up walking in circles so he can't zero in on my pant leg and grab hold. I keep trying to reinforce the good behavior and ignore the bad but it's really hard! I thought "parenting" would be easy...

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