From the other side of the bathroom door yesterday, I heard Big Kid scream, "LITTLE KID BIT ME!!! MOM-MOM-MOM-MOM LITTLE KID BIT ME!"
I was tired. I doubted it was fatal, I had already had enough of this day, and I just wanted to go to the bathroom in peace.
"HANDLE IT BETWEEN YOURSELVES," I yelled back. I heard him pause at the other side of the door and then heard the slap of his feet on the tile as he left the room. I heard:
"little kid, mom said for me to handle it, your biting, and I decided I'm gonna give you a time out."
I never thought it would work. A time out from me invokes screaming, begging, running through the house, promises of better behavior and usually a wrestling match. I thought Big Kid was probably about to get beat down.
"A time out? For how long?" little kid asked quietly.
"You know, I'm not gonna say a time. It's not gonna be 3 minutes like mom does. You go in dere and sit on your bed until you feel like bein' a good boy and knowin' not to bite people. 'Til you can be nice."
and little kid went to his room...and sat on his bed...for about 2 minutes, after which he stuck his head out and said, "Bubby? I can come out now?"
"Can you be nice now? You ready to be a good boy?"
"Yep. I sorry, bubby."
"Come on out. You're a good boy who makes bad toices, little kid."
It was so sweet--and although it should concern me that Big Kid may be a more capable parent than I am (at 6 years of age), I'm mostly glad I may be able to get him to take on some of my parenting responsibilities from time to time.
12 comments:
Awesome! I think I'm going to try that with my kids.
Wow! Screw Supernanny....BK needs his own show. He can start at my house!
kelli in LA
BK is the best Bubby ever!!!
Back in the old days, the 60's, we worked out a lot of issues between ourselves just like your kids did. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but siblings need to work out some stuff between themselves. I raised my son (now 25) as an only but I often let him and his friends work out things amongst themselves---as long as I knew they weren't being abusive to each other. He turned out okay, has a master's degree, is an Eagle Scout, has a good job, happy marriage, and an adorable child so I think it worked. Sometimes we overparent because we feel guilty and think we have to fix it!
I love this age...when I tell Abrielle I'm sorry, she always says, "Hey, it's OK, Ma. Axis-sents happen."
Yup, my mom made me and my brother work things out between ourselves a lot too. It's really helped us to learn how to deal with things (well me at least...he still overreacts to things but that could be other things).
Yup, my mom made me and my brother work things out between ourselves a lot too. It's really helped us to learn how to deal with things (well me at least...he still overreacts to things but that could be other things).
How precious... Big kid is going to make an awesome parent someday!!!
Shit Ashley, Chucky is an only child:{ Now what the hell am I going to do?
that is the greatest thing i've read all day! my 2 year old goes straight to time out when her 4 year old brother tells her to---with me, it's a screaming, chasing fight to get her there. too funny!
OMG- I love his line "You're a good boy who makes bad toices"
That's exactly what I've been trying to say to Zaber but it ends up coming out like "you're ACTING naughty" and then he says "I'm naughty" and I feel bad... Thank you BK you just saved my son millions of dollars in future therapy.
I love this, i did the time machine.. lol, great!
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