"Phil Good": Busy WIth Time-Out!

Tis been a busy week for us in the Phillips' household getting ready for Thursday (today), a BIG day of BYU's first football game of the year (and us hosting our first of many viewing parties), the day my parents fly in to visit us, and the due date of a big quarterly report for work. And it doesn't stop there... my mom's birthday is this Saturday, my BFF turns 30 on Sunday and my dad's birthday is just two weeks down the road. So we have been busy crafting, shopping, cleaning, and having time-outs.

Seems to be a normal thing for his age group (he's 16 months today!), but one we have quickly kept at bay with our instituted time-out system. So this is what we do...

When Jordan refuses to obey, after telling him "stop" or "no" a few times, he gets "time-out." This consists of going to the front door corner, sitting with him and asking him if he understands what he did wrong. Then, we ask him to please stop INSERT BAD BEHAVIOR and asks if he is ready. He then responds with "yeah" and before we leave, we ask him for a kiss and a hug.

Lately, Jordan has had a higher occurrence of time-outs. Upon getting to the corner, he may freak out or throw a tantrum for a few seconds (or minutes) before he calms down. Once calm, he will nicely sit in your lap and say "yeah" repeatedly and then, before you ask for a kiss or a hug, he will turn around, and smack his hands on his lip and then yours and try to give you a kiss before taking off.

Well, one thing's for sure. He's starting to get something - even if it's to withhold his kisses for a quicker exit strategy out of the corner.

I have noticed he seems to consider if he should repeat his bad behavior after. For example, he knows he is not always allowed to climb the bench by the dining table and sit there or play there, unless I am there with him. When he does without my companionship, he gets scolded and a time-out after he refuses a few times. After time-out, he always runs to the bench.. looks at it longingly, and contemplates if he should climb it. He (so far) has turned around, and run off towards other toys, at least for the time being. He seems to be smart enough to realize he can test mommy later. I'm okay with that.

Sometimes, when he's bored and has been good for a long time.. he seems to miss time-out. He'll walk over to his corner, sit down and just mumble to himself and then say yeah a few times and walk off like he's just been released.

What we've been up to as of lately...