Time to crack down

I had a feeling this would happen. There are few things these days that I can predict and be prepared for and I'm getting used to the new schedule--or lack thereof. I'm not a scheduled person so it's not too upsetting as long as you don't mess with my sleep. Um, don't you have a baby in the house you ask?

This is true. That's not the issue today though.

The issue is discipline. I've (we've) been disciplining master Ty since he was literally 9 months old--he would try something and we'd have to teach him where danger was and what things he was not allowed to play with. He has a bit of an edge to him and is pretty intense so his biggest battle is controlling his fits. Which he can. For those people who told me to walk away and let him have at it I have much to say: you people did not and do not know my boy. He may be edgy but he is extremely self-disciplined when he wants to be. And stubborn. When I did try the walking away thing around 18 months, he would simply extend his fit throughout every room in the house. Wherever I went he went and he just got louder and more upset. They say it takes the wind out of their sails...and his sails just got more and more filled by the second. So we found what works for us and stuck with it. We say, "No fit," and he knows if he keeps on he will get in trouble. 9 times out of 10 he stops. The other time when he escalates he gets a spanking. He gives us little trouble these days aside from yelling at his sister when she is being disobedient. Thank you big brother, future hall monitor.

Nice bridge into today's topic: disciplining Charlie.

Isn't she too cute to discipline? She's chewing on a medicine dropper she stole.

No she is not. She has been a peach all her life and now is starting to try her hand at fits and whining. Neither are going to fly if I can do anything about it.

What I'm working on right now is how to tackle the issues. She's a sweet one and loves to be touching you--I've thought through how this plays into what she throws fits about. Inevitably it's when she wants/needs to be held and I can't hold her. Insert new mom guilt. Her new sister has taken her place, she can't get what she needs, etc. I DO have those thoughts but I have to remind myself that God gave Joy to us and it wasn't an accident that she was born a short time after Charlie. He planned it that way. There are times when I have to hold or feed Joy.

What I'm trying to achieve in Charlie's case is just the ability to help her learn to control herself. In the meantime I'm trying to hold her more, let her sit in my lap while everyone is playing, (and when Joy is asleep,) so she knows she is loved and then when I do start really cracking the whip I mean cracking down on her it's a good balance. She's just so funny sometimes it's hard to keep at it. Yesterday she started whining then when I just looked at her shaking my head she started stomping her feet. I couldn't keep from laughing. The best part is that she'd concentrate on her feet and forget to cry/whine at the same time so she alternated. I gotta get this on film...

Edited to add what Emmy suggested: Sean can look at Charlie and she'll start crying. If she throws a fit and he looks sternly at her or God forbid says, "No," she falls apart. Nice.