First Fight

It's true. The discipline has to begin sometime. Tonight was the night.

This is no fun. Disciplining my sweet angel. Ugh ! Unfortunately, tonight Elaina provided her own learning experience. At dinnertime, she was picking at her food with only a little bit of interest and then, looking me in the eye, she dropped her food to the floor to feed Keegan. With a firm "No Elaina" I led her hand back onto the highchair tray for her to resume feeding herself. Still looking me in the eye, she let her food from the other hand onto the floor. I grabbed her hand more firm this time and offered her a sturn, "No !" At this point, her world fell apart and the water works began to flow. Ohhh ... the drama ! I swear with a Mother's Oath that in no way did I hurt my Sweetness, but she continued to crank out the heartbroken sob of a tired baby whose feelings had been hurt. One minute into her bawling, it was obvious that she was then just pushing out the crying. Just like Daddy says, she is a Drama Queen.

As we tried to ignore her plea for attention, Eric and I sat at the dinner table with an immediate discussion on the most appropriate way to resolve her meltdown and let her know that this behavior isn't acceptable. Our gameplan : Eric managed to get her to eat 2 bites of food toward the end of her fit and only then, was she removed from her highchair. Our lesson which we tried to convey was that her behavior wasn't acceptable and when she is in her highchair, it's time to eat and crying or misbehaving won't be a ticket out. (we used to watch alot of Dr.Phil - are we on the right track ? )

Once out of her seat, it was my turn again. I picked her up and said I was sorry and offered her a drink before cuddling her in my arms as I rocked her to sleep. This was classic tired-baby-misbehaving-action but now we've established guidelines to remain consistent and reinforce.

I already don't love this part of parenting and we're just beginning ! Wish us luck !