Time Out

In general, The Toddler is an absolutely delightful child, smiling, laughing and playing most of the time, sleeping through the night most of the time and still napping during the day. For parents like us who are relatively long in the tooth, those are good things.

But, TT is almost 20 months old. In other words, approaching the dreaded terrible twos. And, of course, she is not perfect. Often, when she finishes a meal, she will look you in the eye and throw her food on the floor, knowing it is forbidden. And, when you admonish her, she will look you in the eye even more deeply and do it again.

This calls for "time out': one minute per yer of age, or, in the case of TT, about a minute and a half.

Here's where the problem is.

MHW puts TT on the "time out stool" and TT dutifully stays put with a goofy smile on her face. MHW then tries to talk firmly to TT but, inevitably, cannot maintain control and bursts out laughing. TT is simply too cute sitting there.

MHW then quickly leaves the room and comes back when she pulls herself together.

I'm not sure what the long term ramifications of this are. Only time will tell.