Sometimes They Don't Listen

Alyce like all kids has her bad days. Yesterday was one of those days. Mom, Alyce, and I went over to our neighbor's (Jeff and Liz) house for dinner last night. Jeff and Liz prepared a great dinner consisting of pork chops, corn, mashed potatoes, and strawberries. Alyce was in a great mood the entire time bordering ecstatic. She was running around the house, playing with toys, and trying to pet their kitty Pumpkin.

When it was time to eat is where the bad stuff started to happen. Alyce, bless her heart just couldn't stay seated. She would eat a few bites and then want to get out of her chair to explore the house again. We don't really mind if she eats a lot. She isn't losing weight and doesn't ask for food later in the night, but we want to keep her in her chair until we are done eating. Last night she was just all over the place. I put her in the naughty corner after a warning and that seemed to adjust her attitude for a few minutes. Her naughty behaviour returned and I threatened to and eventually took away her baby doll. The loss of baby doll resulted in some tears and her return to her seat. However, even after a few minutes even the loss of baby doll didn't seem to have an affect. By that time dinner was over and the point became moot.

This was one of those situations where you wonder what you can do when your child really starts to disobey. We could of removed her from the situation by taking her back home or possibly a longer time in the naughty corner. I guess I need to read a few books on how to discipline a child. Throwing up our hands and letting her have her way is not the way we want to start things.