Enchanted Mommy

Why is my 3 year old freaking out?!?!

Wow… so the past couple nights have been something else!

My three year old is really giving me crap at bed time.  The other night it took him two hours to go to sleep!  Jumping on the bed, throwing his stuff, trying to go tackle big brother, and just being a total maniac!

First of all let me remind you that we are talking about the kid who just last month, stuck his hand into a wet cement bucket he passed by.  Stuck it right in there and then smeared it all over his pants and legs.  I tossed him in the bath at home and it still didn’t come off him!  We had to wait a few days for it to completely dry out and crumble off his little fingers! No joke!

I feel like I have tried everything! Re-direction, snuggles, taking things away, time outs, positive reinforcement.  I could have written the book on positive discipline after my years of working in childcare, but even this has me stumped!

My little monster in angel's clothing!

My little monster in angel’s clothing… finally asleep!

The same approach never works twice with this kid.  For example, he will hand over his special lovey and tell me its because he is going to do a trick on his bed (he got it taken away for doing this last time).  Or he tells me he can’t wait until he gets to sleep on the floor again (had to do this after continuing to jump on the bed)! Note:  we have also tried letting him earn tv time, treats, and special things as well.

So last night I again exhausted all my efforts…

I began scouring the internet for good ideas!

I found this, “caught ya doing something good” jar on pinterest from wolfelicious.blogspot.com and will be putting this into action very soon.  I used this in the classroom years ago to build class unity and team work, but hadn’t thought of using it for my own three year old.

**Wolfelicious**_ _Caught Ya_- Positive Reinforcement

Basically, you get marbles, cotton balls, or pompoms.  Every time you catch them being good, you reinforce their behavior by putting one of the marbles in the jar.  The idea is to fill it up with marbles to earn something special!    Great way to use positive reinforcement!!!

I haven’t decided what the prize will be after filling up the jar.  Possibly a camping trip, ice cream party, or pizza party.  I want to let them help pick the reward so its something they are really excited about.

I also came come across a daddy blogger  (Jasongood.net) who obviously was trying to interpret the many reasons why his three year old freaks out as well.  It was hilarious.  If nothing else, it did make me feel better!  Turns out, a lot of these three year olds are very similar!

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

The car seat is weird.

He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

Someone touched his knee.

He’s not allowed in the oven.

I picked out the wrong pants.

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

His hair is heavy.

We don’t understand what he said.

He doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

His sleeve is touching his thumb.

He doesn’t understand how popsicles are made.

The inside of his nose stinks.

Chicken is gross.

A balloon he got six months ago is missing.

A puzzle piece won’t fit in upside down.

I gave him the wrong blue crayon.

The gummi vitamin is too firm.

Netflix is slow.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog within a 70 mile radius.

A shoe should fit either foot.

I asked him a question.

His brother is talking.

He can’t lift a pumpkin.

He can’t have my keys.

The cat is in his way.

The cat won’t let him touch its eyeball.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

The DustBuster is going to eat him.

His mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

He got powdered sugar on his pants.

The yogurt won’t stay on his spoon.

EVERYTHING IS TOO HOT.

 

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