Please put me in time out.

Lately, these are the words that I want to say to my 3 year old daughter Isabelle- did I ask for your input? And the need to say it is spreading through the house to all the little children that roam about here. I begrudgingly admit that I have said it, and when I play back in my head what happened, I think what I child I am, no wonder nothing changes.

Arguing with me or other adults comes off to me as rude and disrespectful- especially when they have an ugly attitude behind there arguing which is almost 100% of the time. Along with that is the whining, complaining, tantrums and other mood swings that accompany a toddler, oops I mean a toddler and 2 preschoolers. We are not opposed to the rod in this house, and I wish I could testify with more confidence that it has been the best decision we made as parents. I will say for a child Andrew's age (19 months) it is highly effective. Just showing him or talking about it can change his behavior. However, the older 2 have learned to endure the rod in the moment, but I have seen little long lasting heart or attitude change in them because I find myself using it for the same things, things we have been working on for over a year.

I have found myself in the bathroom, if only for brief minute to regroup my thoughts, frustrations and give shout out to God, asking, pleading, seeking any type of help. It only lasts about 10 seconds since the bathroom door doesn't close properly or lock, so someone eventually busts in looking for me, asking what I am doing and why I am standing with my eyes closed or squatting in the corner with my hands over my face.

As I have stated before I really want the Accountable kids stuff, but lets be honest- its expensive. Looking at myself in the mirror today during one of my time out sessions I stopped complaining about the product being too expensive, and decided that I would make something similar myself. I have a teaching license and I am a somewhat creative scrap booker so doing this should be right up my alley.

Raising children is HARD and sometimes sucks (in my opinion) but the rewards and joy completely outweigh all of the other stuff. I am hoping to come up with something that works for our family and our place in life. I am hoping to Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. But since I won't be able to see the fruits of that for years, I am just hoping to make it through the next 5 years with less times of me putting myself in timeout. I will let you know how it all goes and what I come up with for a creation.