After last night's glorious, indulgent, grown-up birthday dinner at The Chop House (ridiculous bill totally worth every penny), I woke up optimistic. Energetic! Determined to have a fun day with the girls AND get a few things done around here (making dinner for a friend with a new baby, planting the mums I bought Monday that are still sitting on my front steps, putting away the clean laundry that is folded but still in piles all over my bedroom floor).
Instead, I have spent the majority of the morning holding Annie's bedroom door shut so she will remain in time-out. And in spite of reading something at one point that specifically said NOT to do so, I am seriously contemplating putting a lock on her door so I can separate her from Jemma when they become violent with each other. Finally, after about the 10th time-out, when it was clearly not having any effect on behavior, I just put her in her room and told her to take a nap - no story, no song, nothing. And not to come out under any circumstances.
Also! At one point last weekend, when the frenzy in the backseat of the car was out of control and we had already pulled the car over TWO TIMES to try to get Annie to Cut It Out, I grabbed my Aquafina bottle of water and threw some on her shirt. True confessions, people . . . At first I was a little mortified that I did something like that on reflex, but upon further reflection, I think it might have been OK: got her attention, shocked her into stopping the behavior, and didn't physically hurt her like a slap or a spanking would in the "old-school days" of discipline.
Just so everyone knows what we've been up to. Good times. Any helpful advice? Any child psychologists who want to come live at my house?
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