IBA #322, 543, 25, & 694

# 322 - Which celebrity do you despise the most and why?

I do not “despise” anyone I know let alone anyone I do not know!  Why would you despise someone who has made a name for themselves by acting (or whatever made them a celebrity)?  This topic seems a little “mean spirited” to me, someone had a bug up their rear about something and it crept out into what they were typing.

# 543 - The moment I realized I was a grownup…

I am a what?!?  Okay, enough kidding aside…  Let us see, I would say the first really, “grownup” thing I did was probably leaving my ex-husband.  Yes, before then I had adult responsibilities, like making my car payments, going to work every day, etc…  Nevertheless, I do not think I had made a decision to really “be” an adult until then.

# 25 - Is there something you need to let go of?

I am sure there are plenty of these!  However, I think I already covered the biggest of these nine days ago, in IBA #628.  I do not want to rehash all that again!

Instead, I would like to take the time to thank all 54 of you that came to read it!  To date, that is the most site views this little blog has received in one day!  I would really like to know “who” is interested in what I have to say…I currently have 9 “followers”, I would really like to see a few more and am working on a little “giveaway” of sorts that I plan on announcing in the next few weeks (once I have the plan solidified)!  I have been toying with only opening it up to “followers” since they took the extra few seconds to click the little button, but we shall see!  I just do not want every Tom, Dick, and Sally on the internet flooding my little blog for the chance at something free!  I will give you a preview though…it is probably going to be something I made (sewing, crocheting, etc…).

# 694 - Best parenting advice for a difficult child.

While I do not have children of my own…I do spend a good deal of time (I spent much more when we lived on the same town though) with the older two of my sister’s children.  Her youngest (who is preparing to be a big brother now) though, I have not gotten to spend as much time with because we now live 400 or so miles away.  Of the two I have spent more time with (they are old enough to visit on their own, with a travel friend, as they are five and 7), the oldest needs little to no discipline.  However, the next in line is a handful and a half!

Of course, the “best” way to deal with a difficult child is something that works for that child.  I cannot just say, “Do this and it will cure the behavior!”, because honestly, it probably will not!  What I can say though, is that when nephew #2 really gets going, what works for him (at least in colder weather) is to strip him down to his “shorts” and take him outside for a minute or two.  I have never done this where I did not go out with him, but I have set him outside the door to continue screaming while I grabbed my coat and a blanket for him, once he calms down.  It works with him because spanking never has.  Now, I am not talking about beating the crap out of a kid either!  I am talking about a “pop” with an open palm that they might feel through a diaper.  That worked very well when it was his older brother getting into something he should not, the noise against the diaper was enough to make him stop what he was doing!  However, since it never worked for #2, a different action plan had to be taken up.  This all started one day when he was doing something, he had been told repeatedly to not do (he was yelling at an adult because he wasn’t getting his way).  When I tried to hold on to him to get him to calm down enough to listen, he started hitting and kicking and squirming so that he could go back to yelling about whatever it was.  In the process, he nearly ripped out of his pajama top, so I took it off him.  He then turned the screaming on me to give him back his shirt.  Of course, that only made him lose his pants (he had also wet himself in his mini-tirade).  Eventually he was down to nothing, but continued screaming and his skin was getting hot to the touch because he was so worked up.  Therefore, I took him outside in January (or somewhere between November and March anyway) and plopped him on the deck facing me until he cooled down enough to actually calm down.  That trip outside, I had a new change of clothes, slippers, and a nice, warm blanket for him once he cooled down.  Since it worked so well, for a while it was the only way to get him to calm down.

I do not recommend this particular form of punishment to anyone, it only worked for about a year anyway.  Nephew #2’s outbursts are now handled by running little laps around a set of orange cones in the yard.  The three cones are spaced approximately 10-15 feet apart and form a triangle.  His main issue is that he just has so much energy!  It really gets him into trouble sometimes.  The last time I was around for this, he ended up running 14 laps around the cones (he can do 20 before he actually gets tired).  The “punishment” started at five laps, but he just cannot stop arguing!  The upside to this one, since the cones (at that time) are/were set up all the time, he ran laps on his own for fun!  So, it wasn’t really a punishment, but more of an activity to get some of his built up energy out before he really blows his top and gets into serious trouble (as serious as any 5 year old can get into)!

Back to my “advice” and away from more story telling though!  If you have a difficult child, find what works best for him or her!  Nephew #1 was “easy” a swat to the diaper (when he was in them) that just made that rustled thud of a diaper against skin was enough.  Nephew #2 really likes the “that didn’t even hurt” phrase and it usually gets him in more trouble!  On another side note, my Dad was really good at that one too…he used to tell of all kinds of stories about how he would egg on my Grandmother when he was getting into trouble.  I suppose “#2” is most like his Grandpa, lol.  Nephew #3 is a lot like “#2”, but since he is just getting into the really difficult stage, I do not know how they will end up dealing with him!

It took me four tries to find something I really had anything to say about, but, I figure if I can at least write a little blurb about the topics that don't hold any relevance to me, I'm one step closer to writing about all 706 topics!

Obviously, my parenting advice should be taken with a grain of salt...a lot of people refuse to acknowledge a spanking (not a beating) as a form of punishment for kids.  However, it worked on us and our parents, and their parents, and so on...It isn't like I'm talking about getting a stick or something!  I'm talking open palmed with a diaper to "muffle" it!  Nevertheless, today's links are all on the topic of handling difficult children...

 The Difficult Child: Expanded and Revised Edition 
 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child: The Breakthrough Program for Overcoming Your Child's Difficult Behavior 
Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach 
The Challenging Child: Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five "Difficult" Types of Children 
It's Nobody's Fault: New Hope and Help for Difficult Children and Their Parents 
Transforming The Difficult Child- 6 Hour Seminar on DVD 
Transforming the Difficult Child Workbook An Interactive Guide to Nurtured Heart Approach 
1-2-3 Magic - Managing difficult Behavior in Children 2-12 [VHS]