Standing my Ground in Parenthood

Yesterday was another "teacher waiting at the door" to speak to me days. Ben even told me as he came to hug me that he had been a bad boy and and hurt his friend.

BUT... that's not the end of Monday Misbehavin'. He also bit a child who messed up his perfectly laid out cards and even worse hit and kicked his teachers when they tried to get him down repeatedly for nap.

NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Over the last few weeks Ben has started talking back to us telling us, "you be quiet, quit talking" for which he goes to time out for after a warning for not using nice words. If he hits, kicks, or bites us or our dog it is immediate time out. If he gets a bad report from school, no TV for the night.

Bill has started having him repeat this daily mantra in the car just before drop off of "no hitting, no kicking, put on my listening ears". Most days I repeat it on the way home and ask he listened at school and was nice to his friends.

I also asked the director yesterday if he is acting up at nap and obviously keeping others from sleeping if he can come down to her office for a time out before returning. She agreed and we both think this may help more as a scare tactic.

Discipline is one of my biggest downfalls as a parent. Bill and I come from extremes of little/no discipline to physical discipline carried out on routine basis. We have really worked to be a united front and find a happy medium between the extremes.

I didn't give in when we got home (minus our air being out and it being 86 in the house when I got home). We stuck to no TV and instead too the dog for a walk and picked up leaves and sticks along the way and made a picture with them on the deck.

Parenthood kicks my butt in so many ways with discipline being the top of the list. Send me some good thoughts at daycare pick up today. We all need it!