Tantrums and Preschooler Rule Enforcement

Abigail takes after her parents. She is NOT a morning person. At all. She may pretend to be a morning person, but deep down she just doesn't want to be messed with until she has been awake for a while, and Lord help you if you wake her before she is ready!

The other morning, Abby woke up on her own (Mommy and Daddy both overslept) and headed downstairs with her brother, presumably to play. Mommy woke up to Nicholas crying and the struggle of the older kids over a GeoTrax train. Apparently the whole "yellow train is Daniel's train" idea stopped working, so now, we share the train, one day it's "Abby's train" and the next day it's "Daniel's train." Gee, can you guess where this is headed. After a short conversation about how Abby seems to like to follow the rules that get her what she wants, the train issue passed and then - oh miracle of miracles...Abby actually agreed to get dressed. All was well in Abby land.

Now really, there are few things that as I mom I really panic about. I am not a germ-o-phobe. The 5 second rule applies to any food - if I can't see dirt on it, it's probably OK to eat. My house is not spotless. I do not really care- we're healthy and happy. However, I do get overly concerned about a few things - plastic bags (suffocation) and loose ribbons or strings (a tourniquet or strangulation just waiting to happen). My biggest panic - extraneous stuff in the baby's crib. Abby has tossed every single book and stuffed animal off of Daniel's shelf into his crib. Luckily, Daniel was old enough to be standing when she discovered this "game," so he was not really in danger of being crushed. The first time this occurred though, I was pregnant with Nicholas, so I knew that there was a pretty high possibility of the new baby getting a board book in the noggin - not good. To date, Abby had been punished at least twice for this offense.

So just after the train incident, while happy Abby went to get dressed, the "happy girl" magic spell was broken. Unfortunately, I went into the room where Nicholas had been sleeping only to find Nicholas pinned to the mattress by a certain stuffed dog. Abby's very best stuffed friend, Chocolate Milk. On one hand, it would have made a funny, funny picture. Nicholas was trying to push up, but Chocolate Milk is just too big. I may have to recreate the incident just so I can get a photo. Nicholas is a good 16 lb guy, and he can actually push up well. But picture this: You are lying on your belly and all of a sudden something roughly twice your width and a little longer than you is now lying across your waist. Nicholas and Chocolate Milk looked like some whacked out "plus" sign. Nicholas was attempting to push up, but Chocolate Milk was too much for him, so he didn't get too far.

Needless to say, Abby was in trouble. A LOT of trouble. Then I discovered it wasn't just Chocolate Milk, Pineapple blanket was also in Nicholas's crib. I kept it together, didn't even yell, and I told her Chocolate Milk needed to be taken away. Amid her screams, I said she could keep pineapple blanket. Bad move mommy. I nearly immediately changed my mind. The argument that followed contained a lot of "but you said I could keep pineapple blanket!"

Daddy came to the "rescue" and got Abby to calm down. We were able to have a logical conversation and I was able to reason with her that there were two items in the crib, so two items should be taken away.

Now I know. Think through the punishment before saying it.