No...you go to corner Mommy!!!

  When people warned me about little girls being "different", I think even they underestimated my sweet Molly...This one is going to be a handful once the hormones hit.  Well, hell, she is a handful now.  Her latest stunt is to try and send ME to the corner.  I know, I know, I think I am the last mommy around that sends her kids to the corner.  Most people use "Time Out" these days.  I guess I am old fashioned.  When it came time to discipline my sweet babies, it is just what came out of my mouth naturally.  I can only assume that I was sent to "the corner" when I was small.  They know what "time out" means because of preschool, but at home, it is the dreaded corner.  Lately, when Miss Priss doesn't get her way, whatever that might be, she says "No mommy, you go to corner."  Then she proceeds to push me in that direction.  Most of the time, I can simply say "Molly..." and give her a very stern "mommy look," and she pouts and walks away.  A few times, this sweet little girl has taken a swing at me when I didn't listen to her.  I guess I earn a spanking when I don't do as she says.  She has yet to make contact, but of course she has earned herself some extra time in the corner, and an occasional pop to her bottom as well from this behavior.  I struggle with situations like this.  She is simply modeling my behavior, so how can I correct it if I do the same thing in return.  Can you correct hitting and physical misbehavior such as pushing and biting by doing the same behavior in return?  What are we teaching the kids in reality?  Don't get me wrong...I am a little old school when it comes to this kind of stuff.  I was brought up in a house with spanking, and I think I turned out OK.  In fact, when the principals had to start calling parents to ask for permission to spank their children, my mother responded with "Not only do you have my permission to spank them, make sure you call me so that I can finish the job when they get home."  My mom meant business.  I try not to ever let emotion make the decision for me.  Inside my head, I have decided on a progressive disciplinary scale.  I am not sure I could even write it down on paper, but suffice it to say that the majority of the time, time in the corner is the first rung after a verbal warning.  They can earn more time in the corner or escalate to other forms of discipline.  With Colin, he is old enough to take away toys and privileges when he misbehaves.  We can do the same with Molly, but it doesn't seem quite as effective just yet. Not to mention the fact that she does things, says things, and gets into things that Colin has never even thought about trying.  When they said "each child is different," they were not exaggerating at all.  Molly has even started to run into her bedroom, slam the door in my face, and scream "No" when she doesn't get her way.  The first time this happened, I shook my head at Mike and said "I thought we had at least 10 years before this crap started."  She is only three years old, but she is a tiny little teenager already.  Between her nude paparazzi photo shoots of her mother, her sassy mouth, and her incredible ability to open anything that is "child proof," there is never a dull moment around this house.  I love her sass and determination, secretly.  These are the kind of qualities that will come in handy as an adult.  Until then, it is my job to tone her down to an appropriate level of submissiveness, and turn her into a strong willed, but well behaved child.  This mommy gig is more than a little difficult at times :)

     On a completely different note...my sweet little baby birds have left the nest :(  I discovered we had a nest of little baby birds in our hanging fern while I was watering the plants the other day.  As I wet the fern down with the mist from the hose, a tiny little barely feathered head peeked out at me. I stopped and took a photo with my phone.  Three little wet birds, thanks to me, were staring back at me over the edge of the pot.  They looked slightly offended.  I called for Mike to come out to look at them, and then we showed the kids.  We have been watching them everyday.  I grew concerned because I hadn't seen the mommy bird in a while, but she returned, and we watched her feed them a few days ago. I am glad she came back.  I was beginning to contemplate how I would make a bird seed smoothie, and how would I feed it to the little guys. Yesterday, I walked out on the front porch, and one of the babies was sitting on the edge of the pot, looking around.  It was still missing a few feathers on its head, but the rest of them had come in nicely.  I watched as the sweet bird looked nervous, looking around all over the place.  I stepped a little closer to check out the situation, and he stayed in the exact same place.  Maybe this was it?? Was this the first time he was trying to leave the nest?  I watched quietly as he continued to contemplate his first flight.  And then it happened...Molly came barreling out the front door making tons of noise with a water gun in hand, her brother not far behind her.  The tiny bird took flight...who could blame him? After living on our front porch his whole life, he already knew trouble when he saw it coming.  The other two birds had already left the nest.  They haven't returned :(  I will miss my little friends, even though they were at little noisy in the mornings.  I guess I am glad that we were able to help him take his "leap of faith."  I will make sure to have hanging ferns again next spring, and maybe they will return to have their babies on our porch.