Naughty Kid

kodariah

Keaton is a strong willed mischievous little guy. He's gotten to the point where he is mean if he doesn't get what he wants and doesn't listen at all when we tell him no or ask him to do something. I get he's only one and I don't expect him to be perfect but he can't be a little jerk all the time either. Haha. I feel like I need to start (for the lack of a better word) disciplining him some way to teach him it's not ok to act like this way but I'm clueless as to how. Any tips or advice?? 

Cricket99

I have a hitter. He thinks it's hilarious to slap my glasses off my face. Any time he does it I give him the "angry face" and say "ouch! That hurts mommy, please don't hit." Then I remove myself from him for a few minutes. If I've been playing on the floor with him, I sit in a chair and don't let him up in my lap even if he's begging. He's generally the sweetest kid, but when it comes to my glasses, man is he a jerk. I read an article somewhere about them being like cavemen at this stage just kind of bashing their way through life, so you have to talk to them like cave men and do exaggerated facial expressions. 

KFrob

I'm having a hard time with the limit testing, saying "no", and not smiling or laughing as Harper is looking right at me with a huge grin while being naughty.  Shes not a hitter but she pushes with unsafe things like standing on the couch or similar antics.  I'm also finding that my attention and the "nos" are meant with more of the same behavior since it then becomes a game.  I read in the Wonder Weeks app about laying down the law but also letting them blow off steam.  Its hard to know which time to do what.  Not really helpful, but commiserating that parenting is hard haha.       

JanuarysBaby1

Gina doesn't take my nos seriously and is constantly testing me. She hits me and will even sometimes bite. I'll tell her no and walk away as well but I have yet to see an improvement lol with her dad, it's a totally different story. He tells her something once and she listens. It's hard setting ground rules at this age because they're curious about everything but if you stick to it I guess they'll eventually get the drift, right? 

SDaniels19

Same boat here, Luke is very strong willed and the king of tantrums. I'm just trying to be consistent with limits but then make sure he gets freedom in other, acceptable ways (I.e. you can't stand on the couch, let's go outside and explore instead) but it seems like he just throws one fit after another some time​s . I'll work to calm him down for ten minutes only to have him start reaching and whining for something else he's not supposed to have (or I can't even figure out what it is he's whining for)...  I like the caveman analogy, it totally fits- he tries to swat or throw everything out of his way when he doesn't get his way. Definitely testing this mommy's patience!

stephanienjer

Birdie is a hitter, but just with me. I immediately put her down and don't acknowledge her if she hits me after I tell her no. When she's on my lap and not hitting, I stroke her face and tell her "gentle," and then take her hand and do the same to my face. She's getting the hang of it, and will try to check herself to be "gentle." Now, her gentle is still pretty darn rough, but still... She did hit my glasses off and try to rip them off my face, but she outgrew it. I think some of it is that she got some sunglasses of her own, so if she goes for mine, I hand her hers.
She's also going through tantrum phase. She'll drop to the ground and cry, and I will tell her, "Mommy is sorry that you're sad, but you can't...it's not safe, etc." If we're in public, I try to remove her completely from the situation. The other night, she threw a huge fit over going in the booster seat at a restaurant (I had foolishly let her out to hug a friend we saw at the restaurant,) and was screaming, kicking, throwing, and stiffening up so she wouldn't go in the seat. I simply scooped her up and took her out into the waiting area. We looked at the pictures on the walls, and the various signs, and then she was good to go into her seat. 
Remember that toddlers' synapses are firing at a much quicker rate than ours (like more than double,) and that's a lot of feels all at once. 
I have to pick my battles. I'm single mom-ing over here, so sometimes a little fit does get her way, but not the majority of the time.

kodariah

Thanks guys. It's nice to have reassurance that I'm not the only one. He's a sweet kid but he wants what he wants, so it's hard. It's funny, I have studied early childhood development and I feel like I'm still clueless. I try to look him in the eyes, justify his feelings, explain why is not ok then ignore him like I've learn to, but normally that just ends with a bigger fit. I'm not one to spank and time out just makes him pissed but I don't feel like ignoring the behavior and teaching him that throwing a fit is ok either. It's just hard finding the happy medium.