Ella is a mostly really well-behaved child. We had a period around her third birthday where she acted out a little bit so we used a version of time-out called the 'whining wall' where she would be sent to sit against a specific wall in the living room when she needed to pull herself together. After a few months, though, we found we weren't using the whining wall much because she just in a good place with very little behavior we needed to correct.
Recently, she has gotten a little bit more stubborn and a little bit more cheeky so we've had to come up with some new measures of discipline. We've used the threat of 'consequences' to great success (as in, "I will give you one more chance to stop interrupting mommy while she is talking or there will be consequences"). The best part is that we haven't had to actually determine what those consequences might be. This is good because we can't figure out what would actually be a good consequence. What can you take away from three-year old that has any meaning? We rarely eat dessert, she watches very little TV and we hate the idea of taking away something like books which is really her greatest love. So 'consequences' are working great until she gets smart enough to want to know what those consequences are and then we are in trouble.
Our other new tactic is threatening to take a special toy away 'until Saturday'. One of my playgroup mama friends mentioned this idea to me awhile back and in a fit of frustration, I used it recently to major success. I like it because it doesn't involve a really horrible threat (to a kid) like giving away or throwing away a favorite toy, but it does indicate that toys are a privilege for children with good behavior. And apparently Saturday is a LONG way away in Ella's head because she gets very upset at the idea of something going away until Saturday and usually shapes up quickly when we throw down the 'til Saturday' threat.
This past Friday evening, Ella had a tantrum about a minor issue (isn't it always a minor issue?) and as she got more and more hysterical, I got more and more frustrated with her. I could hear our argument dragging on and I knew I had to do something to cut it off. So I told her that if she didn't calm down, I was going to put away her little pegs (a much beloved toy) until Saturday. For a moment, the hysteria increased as she expressed her extreme displeasure about losing her pegs for such a terribly long time, but, to her credit, she pulled herself together in short order and the tantrum was over.
The funniest part? We learned that despite Ella very clearly knowing the days of the week, the 'til Saturday' threat is still extremely effective when laid down on Friday night.
