It was a battle of the strongest will...

So, if you have been around my child you would see that he is a very good little boy. He gets his feelings hurt very easily. He, for the most part, listens to myself and Bradley. For example, if we ask him to help pick up his toys he does. We try to make a game of it by getting his beloved Cat involved in helping pick up the toys. But there are sometimes that he has to go to time out. It is usually for hitting the dogs or if we ask him to not do something and he continues to do it. He hasn't been in time out very many times. Maybe he is put there once every couple of weeks. I mean, he is a really good boy. Time out has always worked for him...until this past Saturday.....

Batesville had some kind of kite flying event that was held at the State Fairgrounds. I thought it would be fun to take Parker and watch the kites. Maybe he and his daddy could fly a kite. We talked to him about it and he seemed to be on board with going. (which could totally change at any time.) We were in his room playing with toys. We had his SpongeBob Domino's out and we were matching up characters on each domino. These aren't the plastic kind of domino's, they are porcelin. So, if thrown, they could break, if thrown at a window ...could break a window, if thrown at a mommy, daddy, or dog, could hurt.

I guess maybe I was sitting too close to Parker, maybe I had the domino he wanted. Who knows. He was not a happy camper Saturday morning so anything was going to set him off. He got mad and threw a domino. I gave a warning, "Please don't throw your toys." He threw a second domino. I told him, "Parker if you throw another domino, you will sit in time out." And, he threw a third domino. I picked up my mad little boy and sat him in the time out corner. Now, I will stop here and say that every other time he has been sat in time out, he has stayed. He faces the corner and he quietly sobs to himself. This time, by the time I had turned around, he was standing behind me. I looked at Bradley, and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I took a deep breath and placed him back in the corner. This went on for over 5 minutes, but it seemed like an hour. I couldn't count the number of times I placed him back in the corner. 100 maybe? My child was pissed and definately testing me to see how far he could go. At one point, Bradley asked if I wanted to switch out. I said no, because I was the one who placed him there and I need to follow through.

At one point during the battle I just had to laugh. (I hid my face so little mad boy wouldn't see...for fear of him getting madder). I laughed because if I didn't I was going to become angry and frustrated. I'm not going to lie, after placing him in time out for the 50th time, thoughts went through my mind that I wanted to spank him really bad. Which is why I laughed. I never want to hit my child. Spanking is hitting. It sends the wrong message and damages their spirit. I never want to do that to my child. Never.

Finally, I asked Bradley to bring me the beloved Cat. I gave it to Parker as I placed him in time out AGAIN, and said, "Parker talk to Cat about why you are in time out." And....he stayed. He stayed for the whole 2 minutes. I defeated a 2 year old and it felt great. After the 2 minutes were up, I sat down by him and asked him to tell me why he was in time out. He said, "throw toys." I then explained to him why you don't throw toys. I told him I loved him very much, gave him a hug and he gave me a five. And, I think he learned a big lesson.

I'm sure this won't be the first time he ever does this. And it really broke my heart to keep putting that sweet little boy back in time out. Tore my heart up. But, I knew if I gave in, or I let walk out of time out, he doesn't learn anything and in fact, I have just made the battle worse. I would say, this was a really hard day in my 2 years of parenting.

I am very thankful for my GOOD, well behaved little boy. I think it reflects off of the attention he gets from myself and Bradley. We don't watch TV while Parker is awake...unless it's Nick Jr. and we are usually watching it with him. We don't have computers out or cell phones out to distract us. We are giving him our undivided attention and I believe that this is why he does what he is asked.

What kinds of things do you put your kids in time out for? Ever had a similar story?