The Saga Continues

The Incredibles

E had an early bedtime last night. It was kind of scary. She spent a large amount of time (over 15 min) whining about getting dressed for bed. It was an attention thing, obviously. She's perfectly capable of dressing herself. I'm thinking in about another couple of months, probably around springtime, she's going to be responsible for her own bathtime all together. Provided the training goes well, of course.

The question is what to do about the recent increase in acting out. On the whole, she's a very kind, caring and considerate young lady. She knows very well how to behave. It's obvious when she decides that she doesn't want to be the good girl, and all hell breaks loose. Spanking isn't really effective any more. I don't spank hard enough to cause real pain. I was looking for the more psychological effect of spanking. (If daddy is mad enough to spank me, I must have done something really wrong...) I fear that I may have over-used it. Now it just doesn't work so much any more.

Now, the new, and seemingly more effective weapon in the disciplinary arsenal, is the silent treatment. It's rough on her, I know. But it seems to work. I sent her to her room with a gesture yesterday, for some trouble we had leaving preschool. She threw a complete fit, but she did go to her room, and came out a short while later, a far sweeter young lady than when she went in. There was no huge mess in her room, nothing broken, and she seemed to be a lot calmer.

I suppose that most of this is due to H's recent arrival. It difficult to balance time between everyone, now more so with a new family member. To say we all feel a little stretched is a gross understatement. I think we're managing as well as we can for now. Things just need a little time, love and tenderness. I try to show everybody as much attention as I can, while still getting enough alone time to maintain my own sanity. I think in a couple of months, everything will even out and we'll be back to being The Incredibles. (My not-so-private-anymore pet name for our family.)

Math is Fun!

I finally spent a few minutes yesterday learning how to cast 9's, and use the Luhn algorithm. Note to self, though they operate under some of the same parameters, 9 != 0 in Luhn. I was wondering why my credit cards didn't appear to be valid, for a minute, there... As far as the 9's go, since I do most of my math work on calculators and the occasional computer (go figure) now, checking sums by hand is not really a common pastime for me, anymore. Though it is a handy thing to know, and once E starts math classes, it will be a fun trick to teach her.