Going in Mommy's room without her knowledge. This is a rule in our house because toddlers can't really be trusted to refrain from jumping on the bed or depositing all your chapstick-sized items into your glass of water.
My 4-year-old is bad for "forgetting" this rule. Today she found a way to get in and deposit some teddy bear evidence before quietly removing herself and re-closing the door. When she couldn't find her teddy bear, Mommy came to the rescue only to incriminate the little victim. Oops. What to do?
I had to take a moment to think, and this always scares the kids far more than the consequence.
AHA!! I've got it. We have been talking about trust with the kids lately. Mostly in regards to telling the truth, but I seized the opportunity to broaden the definition.
"Sweetheart, because I can no longer trust you to play upstairs alone without going in my room, you may not play upstairs without an adult for one week." She instantly realized that this meant that all her Barbies, teddy bears, and wooden paper dolls were inaccessible.
"Mom, can you go get my Barbies?"
"Nope. They are upstairs and therefore part of the consequence for your disobedience. I'm really sorry."
This was followed by an extreme emotional reaction involving the words, "NEVER!..." "Devastated!..." and "Hopeless!.." Wow. She IS a dramatic one.
Though logical consequences are WAY more difficult to come up with, and sometimes non-existent, they always seem to be the most hard to swallow for my little ones. Maybe that's why I believe they are so effective. I LOVE logical consequences. Even when I have to butt heads with the most illogical of responses!
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