The bright side

Yesterday was a better day. Granted, Maggie got two timeouts within a 20-minute span, but other than that it was a pretty good day. While she was in the second timeout, I remembered how some friends use the hot-sauce method of discipline (usually for lying). They take a tiny dab of sauce and place it on the child's tongue as a way to remind them that lying hurts. I decided to try that approach, not with lying since we've already established a punishment pattern for this, but for back-talking, name-calling, and saying other hurtful/disrespectful things.

During our Timeout Talk, I took the bottle of hot sauce to her and let her smell it. She didn't like the smell at all! I told her that from now on, whenever she says something hurtful or disrespectful to Mommy or Daddy -- sassing, saying "No!" obstinately when told to do something, etc. -- she would get a dab of this on her tongue. I told her that words can hurt, and hopefully the sting of the sauce will remind her that the things she says to other people can sting their feelings. The rest of the day was great! She used good manners, was agreeable, and in general listened much better.

And the really bright side? For three nights this week, she's stayed in her bed all night! Many of you know that she has a nightly migration pattern where she wanders into our bed at all hours of the night. It's our fault for not enforcing the "sleep in your bed" rule -- we insist that she start off in her own bed, but at 3 a.m., neither of us wanted to fight it. To have her staying there on her own, without a nightly battle, feels huge!

Today will be a big day as far as behavior -- let's hope yesterday wasn't a fluke and she continues to be the sweet, mostly-agreeable child we've come to know and love. :)