We may be turning a corner here. There certainly are no guarantees when raising a family but I’m sensing a slight shift in little T.Puzzle. He actually made the connection that bad behavior equals the loss of privileges. When I picked him up from school the first thing he said to me was, “Do I get to watch a show and have a treat?” I told him that he could but only if he was a good listener and was respectful. He seemed satisfied with that and went on to be mostly well-behaved for the rest of the evening.
I remember when Full Speed was in the heart of the terrible threes and he would have moments and phases of clarity just like Little T.Puzzle is showing. It would bolster me up for the next inevitable slide back to tantrum-filled defiance. I guess that’s what I need to do now. Soak up Little T.Puzzle’s slice of sanity and put the memory of it in my reserve tank of parenting energy.
You all know I’m gonna need it.
Writes for all Mommies 