Girls Behaving Badly

We're not exactly sure where we went wrong, but lately it's like girls gone wild around here (toddler edition.) Clio's infractions include yanking her sister by her neck, putting her feet on everyone, saying "poop" at the table as often as possible, telling us "go away!" and "I don't want you!" and making a major scene every time she has to leave a playdate. This weekend I had to literally pry a toy out of her hands and carry her kicking and screaming to the car; yesterday, at the end of a post-school date at a school friend's house, she apparently ran into the basement and hid. At least she is well behaved DURING these outings.

This is the only moment I have captured on film, and while you could mistake this for a little pre-bedtime rest, those in the know should recognize it for what it is: the calm either right before or right after a classic, fist-pounding, wailing tantrum.


Eleri, on the other hand, is less tantrum-prone than she once was, so busy is she getting into anything and everything. We love her reaction when we catch her at it: simply say her name, and she will jump 5 feet in the air, throw whatever contraband she is holding, and crawl quickly a few feet away, as if distance alone can dissociate the criminal from the crime. While we have not captured this jumpiness on video, I do also love her expression when caught in the act of something a little more minor, where she looks up as if to say, "what are you going to do about it?" and then goes right back to unloading my wallet (or the dishwasher) all over the floor, emptying out my facewash (she has mastered the art of climbing into the bathtub and it is her favorite place to be, after "outside" of course), or throwing her dinner on the floor.






Makes a parent proud.

Sadly, I'm at a loss when it comes to correcting this behavior. There are moments when I refer to the very scientific methods laid out in Stan and Jan Berenstein's Berenstein Bears forget their Manners, only instead of setting up a clear system of reward and punishment, as Mama Bear does, I find myself just calling my kids "Noodle head," a name-calling no-no in the book. I'm tired of threatening. I'm tired of Time Outs (in fact, I don't do them anymore; Dave's a one-man Time-Out Machine), and I'm more and more inclined to let them work it out on their own. I don't know, let's take a vote: am I being wise, or just plain lazy?