(Brownie points to anyone who knows where the title came from.)
When I was in high school, a friend of mine had a bumper sticker that said “When Irish eyes are smilin’, ya’ know they're up to somethin’.” I always found it amusing, but Ashton has given it a whole new meaning. Maybe it is his mischievous smile, or maybe it is the fact that he inherited Grandpa Riordan’s Irish eyes, but Ashton’s eyes always seem to be smiling, and he is usually up to something.
Take last week for example. It all started out with changing him into his PJ’s. What is the natural 2-year-old reaction? Hit Mommy, of course. Then it was time for time out. I plopped Ashton in the sitting room and decided to keep the lights low to help him “settle down.” It wasn’t 30 seconds later that I noticed the light on and Ashton happily sitting on the couch. When asked about the lights, he stated proudly, “I, I turn them ooonnnn.” I looked at him sternly, and reminded him that he was supposed to stay in time out. I turned the lights back off and had not turned my back for a moment before the light was back on and Ashton was scurrying back to the couch.
Then came time for bed. I had put Ashton down for just a minute when I noticed the door was shut. “Strange,” I thought, and opened the door to see Ashton running back to his bed. A minute later I noticed that Ashton was nibbling on something. Fortunately for me, he has not perfected the fine art of lying (see footnote 1), and he cheerfully admitted that he had used his ESP (see footnote 2) to find the crumbled cookie in my bag. This was just after brushing his teeth, which is somewhat akin to trying to brush the teeth of a crocodile.
So after re-tackling his teeth, I finally put him down amidst a barrage of protests. That is, until he stopped to think for a second and then purposefully hit me. Before I could say, “Ashton, you don’t hit!” he sprang up, ran across the room, sat down in a chair and cheerfully stated, “I get time out now!” I suppose he was very proud of his logic, and I must admit it was a clever way to get out of going to bed. Perhaps I need to rethink my discipline strategy at bedtime.
Footnote 1: When I say Ashton has not perfected lying, I do not mean to imply that he is not practicing. His latest trick is to hit his brother and then start crying himself, claiming, “Isaac, he he hit me.”
Footnote 2: I mentioned Ashton’s ESP for sweets . . . I really think he may have special goody-finding radar. It doesn’t matter where we hide candy; he seems to know where it is. While I was still in Rochester, my Mom took the boys to church. Between meetings, she turned around to find Ashton missing. Panicked, she sifted through the halls looking for the boy. She finally found him in the kitchen where he had spotted some candy stored on the top shelf, pulled a chair in from a neighboring room and was climbing to reach the goods.
Take last week for example. It all started out with changing him into his PJ’s. What is the natural 2-year-old reaction? Hit Mommy, of course. Then it was time for time out. I plopped Ashton in the sitting room and decided to keep the lights low to help him “settle down.” It wasn’t 30 seconds later that I noticed the light on and Ashton happily sitting on the couch. When asked about the lights, he stated proudly, “I, I turn them ooonnnn.” I looked at him sternly, and reminded him that he was supposed to stay in time out. I turned the lights back off and had not turned my back for a moment before the light was back on and Ashton was scurrying back to the couch.
Then came time for bed. I had put Ashton down for just a minute when I noticed the door was shut. “Strange,” I thought, and opened the door to see Ashton running back to his bed. A minute later I noticed that Ashton was nibbling on something. Fortunately for me, he has not perfected the fine art of lying (see footnote 1), and he cheerfully admitted that he had used his ESP (see footnote 2) to find the crumbled cookie in my bag. This was just after brushing his teeth, which is somewhat akin to trying to brush the teeth of a crocodile.
So after re-tackling his teeth, I finally put him down amidst a barrage of protests. That is, until he stopped to think for a second and then purposefully hit me. Before I could say, “Ashton, you don’t hit!” he sprang up, ran across the room, sat down in a chair and cheerfully stated, “I get time out now!” I suppose he was very proud of his logic, and I must admit it was a clever way to get out of going to bed. Perhaps I need to rethink my discipline strategy at bedtime.
Footnote 1: When I say Ashton has not perfected lying, I do not mean to imply that he is not practicing. His latest trick is to hit his brother and then start crying himself, claiming, “Isaac, he he hit me.”
Footnote 2: I mentioned Ashton’s ESP for sweets . . . I really think he may have special goody-finding radar. It doesn’t matter where we hide candy; he seems to know where it is. While I was still in Rochester, my Mom took the boys to church. Between meetings, she turned around to find Ashton missing. Panicked, she sifted through the halls looking for the boy. She finally found him in the kitchen where he had spotted some candy stored on the top shelf, pulled a chair in from a neighboring room and was climbing to reach the goods.
6 comments:
you know, ravi isn't all that great at time outs either. i wonder if it's the second child thing or what. i've found that sticking him in the bathroom on the stool we have there usually does the trick. or not...a lot of times i have to hold the door handle while he screams at me. those 2 1/2 year olds are definitely mischevious.
brownie points: where the wild things are.
Great post, but who is Brownie and why is she pointing to me? (Tell her to stop, or I'll gnash my terrible teeth!)
Child punishment logic is pretty funny and very impressive when you step back and think about it. As my kids got older I started realizing that "time out" just does not work. It says, "I don't want to deal with you; go away," which is not what I want my daughters to hear from me. I found that taking the time out with them sent a better message (as well as tempered my willingness to put them in time out, since I was putting myself there with them). Spending time out with them gives me time to talk about the misbehavior and why it is a problem. Instead of saying "Go away," it says, "Your current behavior is causing disunity, but I really like having you around."
Hez, I know you can't be talking about the same cute Ashton that has been in our nursery. I am really going to miss him, but I am sure I won't miss him as much as his grandma and grandpa.
The adventures of childhood...wish I could of seen you over Christmas...but hopefully this summder! It was fun to see Aukai! Hope things are going well for you!
Mischievous or not (in fact, probably partly because of that trait) he completely won our hearts while he was here. He has a tender little soul; he ran up to me during a part of Beauty and the Beast (sorry--no underline or italics available) in which Beauty, locked up in a room, calls for help. He grabbed my hands, looked up at me with tears and desperation in his eyes, and sobbed, "Please help her! Please help her!" What a dear!
I command you to post something new! I miss those cute little boys and want to hear about them! :)
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