Our First Time Out

Today marked quite an occasion -- the twins' first time out.

I've probably waited too long to truly discipline the girls' bad behavior, but I sometimes forget how old they really are. Neither one of the twins speaks many words, so I assume that if I can't understand them, they can't understand me, thus rendering any discipline useless.

Of course, this isn't true. The girls understand so much of what we say. They understand directions, exclamations, signs and facial expressions. In fact, just yesterday I asked Faith to hand me a pacifier for Grace and she turned around, picked up the paci and handed it to me.

So I figure if they can understand stuff like that, they can start understanding that bad behavior gets punished. I didn't have to wait long for the opportunity to put this theory to the test.

The girls have been especially playful today. They've been up and down the stairs, playing with their baby dolls, "vrooming" Hot Wheels around the family room and just plain acting like little girls.

At one point, though, Grace threw a toy car at me. I reminded her that throwing is not allowed in our house. So what did she do? She threw another car. I warned her that this was her last chance, and if she threw anything else, she'd be punished. She stopped.

But Faith picked up where Grace left off. Moments later, Faith hurled a car at me. Same drill -- reminder that we don't throw and then the threat of punishment.

But this is Faith we're talking about. She is my little Roo who pushes the envelope at every opportunity. She decided to see if I was bluffing and threw another car at me, smiling the whole time.

I said, "Okay, then it's time out for you." I put her on the bottom step of the stairs and stood there, making sure she wouldn't get up.

As I am standing there, trying very hard to keep from cracking a smile, while trying to look menacing, I feel something hit the back of my leg and then the sound of cheap metal hitting the hardwood floors.

I turn around to find a Hot Wheel lying on the floor behind me, with Grace standing nearby, smiling.

So it was to the stairs for Grace as well, where both girls sat for one minute (a lifetime for an almost-two-year-old!). They both tried crawling up the stairs, standing up, moving around, etc, but I made sure they sat the whole time. It was sort of a game for them, seeing if I would do something if they tried to get out of their seated positions.

So I'm not sure the concept quite got through to them, but at least we've set up some boundaries and some consequences. I'll continue to do this "time out on the stairs" thing and hope that, eventually, they'll get that it's not a game, but rather a punishment.

Stay tuned. This could get interesting.

I'll leave you with some gratuitous photos of my kids.

The Roo and her shoes. Actually, the Roo and Devin's shoes. She looks like a cartoon character!


I expect a 21-month-old (Grace, in this case) to experiment in eating dirt...


But not a four-year-old. Shouldn't he know better??? Gross!


My fourth child, Zoe