if my last post didn’t convince you that jackson has turned into a ferocious animal, perhaps this one will. today jackson has tipped over an end table, pulled a febreeze plug-in out of its socket and tried to feed it to the dog, and toppled a nightstand over onto himself (the nightstand was home to 2 books, a telephone, lamp, remote, and full glass of water). jackson accomplished all of these actions before 8:04 am.
apparently 10 months is when one is “supposed to” (and i use that term very cautiously) begin the ins and outs of discipline. riddle me this though… how exactly does one go about disciplining a 10 month old?
we have started saying “no,” and pulling jackson away from things he toddles himself over to investigate that he shouldn’t (like the cable box and red’s water dish). good grief, if he started pushing buttons on the cable box, i wouldn’t know how on earth to remedy that situation. but how do you “time out” a 10 month old? of course this is assuming you are a proponent of time outs as a form of discipline. i don’t want to put him in his crib for time out, that’s his sleepy place… comfy, cozy, just-for-jackson. i don’t want to put him in his play pen… it’s a play pen for crying out loud. and i can’t just plop him in a corner because as evidenced by this morning’s shinanigans, he is now in to everything.
i’m learning that there is this not-so-delicate balance between doting on your child, and letting your child explore and learn things for him/herself. i’m all for exploration and (at times) feel that is the best way to learn things.
your parents can tell you all your life, “don’t drink too much on new years,” but until you have that horrific hangover from drinking waaaaaaay too many screwdrivers, you don’t really believe it. (not that i’m speaking from experience…) so how do you navigate this not-so-delicate balance between doting/protecting and allowing for exploration?
i watched jackson pull over the end table on himself this morning. (and it should be noted that he does all of this, toddling here and there in his walker/red car. he’s not walking on his own… yet.) but i watched my son pull this table over onto himself and did nothing about it. granted the table is one of those small, circular, piece-of-crap, plywood things you buy at kmart, and weighs nothing more than a pound and a half. i knew it wouldn’t crush his skull, so i let him do it. i watched him scare himself when it actually did tumble, and then i watched as he maniacally laughed afterwards, amazed at his super-baby-strength. when he pulled the nightstand over, it was not so graceful a learning process, and i was in the other room (bad mother, bad bad BAD mother).
paul and i have been reading this hilarious book of essays that has actually taught us a thing or two about parenting, as well as given us lots of good laughs about poop. in one essay, writer matthew baldwin explains the following scenario…

Yesterday my son (now three) and I were monkeying around in the backyard. My wife strolled out to see what we were doing, and noticed that he was lugging around an object he had purloined from our small stash of building supplies. Curious, she turned to me for explanation.

WIFE: What is he carrying?
ME: It’s a brick.
WIFE: He’s walking around carrying a brick?
ME: That’s correct.
{Pause}
WIFE: What if he drops it on his foot?
ME: Then he will learn not to drop bricks on his foot.

i guess only time will tell if i’m the “what if” asking wife, or the “then he will learn” parent.

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