Too Much Tude

I've been up to my eyeballs in discipline lately, finally finding a few minutes away from the naughty spot to write about it. Lately, Natalie's been pushing hard - against rules, against manners, against showing respect and against her timeouts. She's feisty, sassy and generally acting far too tweenish for me to just brush it off. In fact, every time she gives me the eye roll, a stuck out tongue or gets snarky when I've told her to do something, my mommy brain fast forwards another 8 years. If she's this difficult to settle at this age, I'll never make it then.

Jason and I are reviewing our approach regularly and touching base frequently to make sure we're being consistent. We're also trying to remind each other to seek out and praise the good behavior too. (She's really only showing the attitude with the two of us, primarily at home. School, activities, etc. are going well.) I'm searching for clues as to what sets her off and giving her plenty of reminders of my expectations. Sadly, it seems the more we try to get her behavior under control, the worse it gets. But it doesn't get any better if we ease up a little either.

As we're pushing through all of this, I keep hearing a phrase a friend of mine and one of our longtime daycare teachers use often. They have both reminded me of it many times when I've come to them for help. "This too shall pass," they say reassuringly.

I know. We'll get through it. It's a phase. We're addressing the issue and not ignoring it, but we shouldn't beat ourselves up over it either.

In the meantime, just hand me the egg timer, the naughty spot carpet square and a latte. Mama could use a timeout too.