Dear Blake,
I am looking for more positive ways to teach a two-year-old daughter rather than time-out. We don’t use time-out for every little thing, only hitting, biting and occasionally refusing to follow a simple direction. It may be one or two times a day, sometimes none. Would you please gives us some more options?
Signed, Jennifer
From Portland, Oregon
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Dear Jennifer,
It’s good that you want to address the disciplinary issues when she’s young, and that’s a sign of good parenting. Unfortunately, stats show that by the time your daughter is a teenager, the tension will be so bad in your home, that one or both of you will be using alcohol and/or drugs regularly to deal with the daily stress. Now is the time to play hardball so you can minimize the amount of time you’ll have to spend in rehab in about a decade. Since your daughter obviously doesn’t know U.S. laws, tell her that you have the authority to have her deported if she continues to disobey, and keep some luggage next to her bed to emphasize the point. You can also allege that you are considering no longer denying ghouls and goblins there nightly requests to kidnap her as soon as the lights are turned out. But if you want something simpler and less scary, threaten to move and leave her abandoned in the house while she takes her afternoon nap. And just to be sure that she takes you serious, every once in a while, rent a U-Haul truck for a day, and leave it in your driveway parked next to her tricycle. I hope this helps.
Blake