Discipline

This morning at the grocery store Olivia was an absolute terror. She screamed and screamed and kept trying to stand up in the cart, throw my grocery list on the floor, grab things off the shelves, etc. I felt angry and embarrassed, but mostly betrayed because she's almost always so sweet tempered. I always feel a little bit proud when we go out because MY child is so friendly and well behaved. Well, HA.

The problem is that there's not much you can do about misbehavior while you're there in the grocery store. I try to distract her, calm her down, show disapproval, stuff her full of tortilla and banana, but if she's bent on testing me, as she was today, all I can do is weather it until we get home - where of course, upon arrival, she is a perfect angel. I don't believe in spanking or yelling, so all I can do is basically reiterate my disapproval with her behavior in the store and put her in time out for a while. In my mind, the whole concept of "time out" is for the child to regain composure, so in this case it's really less effective. Plus, I don't know if it even computes, no matter how I try, that her isolation is a consequence of her behavior in the store, and not associated with her current, pleasant state.

At any rate, I guess putting Olivia away for a while gives ME some time to cool off. I'd say it's a pity that she has to go to her room so that Mommy can have a time out...but then, let's remember what started this whole thing in the first place.