Consequences

This past week Tristan has been learning about consequences.  There is always time for a first and this week he got put to bed early.  And I mean early.  We were at Meijer and getting ready to load the groceries (and kids) back into the van, when I told Tristan that I wanted him to get off the cart a certain direction.  One direction led into the parking lot where the cars were driving and the other side led closer to the car, with the cart blocking the oncoming traffic.  Naturally, I wanted him to get down on the side that was safer (and this is the normal routine) and this time he chose to do the opposite.  Not only did he get down off the more dangerous side but then proceeded to throw a big ole fit when I grabbed his hand to make sure he didn't run out in front of a car.  So, then I had to pick him up while he was pitching and kicking around.... and let me tell you that's not the easiest thing to get a toddler who doesn't want to be put in his car seat, strapped in.

After he was strapped in and I tried to calmly talk to him about why it was super dangerous to not listen to Momma he just kept saying, "no" in a really snotty way that wasn't flying well with this Momma and then he hit me.  I was in shock.  I couldn't believe it.  He has never done anything like that before.  After that happened I just told him that was unacceptable and that he was going to bed when we got home.  Then I shut the door.

So, this is was the situation that led to Tristan going to bed at 5:30.  I knew it was going to be a rough morning (because he was going to wake up super early) but he had to know that it wasn't OK.  We did have a little talk/discussion about it and he told me that he was being naughty and that's why he was in bed early.

I really didn't know what else to do about it, but I think that I handled it well.  Gaetan said that that's what he would've done but taken away more stuff.  After that happened Gaetan and I also talked about setting up a routine for the remainder of the summer.  I know that the kids get more naughty when we're both home and not necessarily on a set schedule.  So, we decided that after breakfast Gaetan would go into work (normally the library) just to get out of the house, and then come back sometime in the afternoon.  The kids have been doing better since then, so the plan seems to be working.  :)

JVG