New Kid - Day 3

Have you ever tried to completely do the opposite of something that had been a habit for years? It's pretty freakin' hard! I have really had to "think" about my responses to Hayden today, as opposed to just doing whatever I normally would do. We've had our ups and downs, but I think we are making progress. This morning I had to leave him here (Dave was home) to get my point across that he needs to get dressed when I ask him to. That was interesting. We also discovered that he knows how to unlock the deadbolt and can open the front door. Needless to say, he was ready to go when I got back home!

Hayden has watched virtually no TV today, which is a pretty big thing in our house. But I got to play games with him and we put together a puzzle. He played outside in the backyard for a while as well. He didn't watch TV or play the PSP today because he kept talking back to me and telling me no. When he had his bath tonight, he kept plugging the drain back in when I would unplug it so I put him to bed early with no TV (he usually watches for a little while in the evening).

Let's hope tomorrow some of these things start to click and he thinks before he speaks. I have stayed calm with him for the most part today. I did lose it when he almost smushed his fingers in the van door, though. He is definitely noticing that I am not resorting to spanking and he's testing the waters because of that. In the end, I think he's getting the short end of the stick because, quite frankly, he LOVES his TV time. A spanking is over and done with, but not getting to do something that you really TRULY want to do is bugging the stew out of him. It's great to be able to wait and punish him also because by the time he asks to do something (after he's NOT brushed his teeth when I asked or whatever) I have calmed down enough that I can rationally explain to him what he did wrong and why I am not allowing him to do whatever it is he wants to do. No more yelling and not making sense and droning on forever until he doesn't even know why he's in trouble. It's a welcome change. :)