Sunday, August 7, 2011

2 days and counting...

It might surprise all of you, but Abigail can be a bit of a stinker sometimes. I mean overall she is an incredibly easy toddler. But she has a few choice areas where she is determined to do what she wants when she wants to regardless of the consequences.
One of our biggest struggles is in regards to touching the computer. She is not allowed to. But come hell or high water, if I walk out of the room, she will climb up and begin typing and pushing buttons. And the scenario is the same EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I walk in the room. She jumps down quickly, running the other way and proclaiming, 'no touch the computer.' We go through the 'did you touch the computer?' 'What happens when you touch the computer?'
And then she walks in the bathroom with a smile still widely spread across her face telling me how she was typing or texting Papa. I tell her I don't care what her reasons are for touching it, it is not allowed. She gets spanked...and cries. She apologizes and we reconcile. I then go through why she can't touch the computer and remind her she has now lost television watching, and computer fun (starfall, looking at pictures, etc.) for that day. She is devastated. I could win money if I bet on it, that she will get spanked for the same thing within a few hours. This happens multiple times a day.
Over the last week it had gotten much worse. I was doing everything I could think of to prevent it, correct it, and praise her when she didn't touch it. I would remind her first thing in the morning that the computer was not allowed to be touched. I would ask her multiple times though out the day what she wasn't allowed to touch. I would remind her that she had a computer of her own that she was more than welcome to play with, type on, or jump up and down on if she wanted to. I still ended up spanking. I was growing weary and running out of ideas.
We have also recently started a responsibility chart with stickers. One of her stickers is for obeying Mama and Papa. She tends to be highly motivated by praise, stickers, clapping, making up songs, just any form of verbal and visual reminder of the good things she's done. She also knew for each sticker she got she would get 'monies' (a penny a piece). Nothing was going to stop this little computer lover from playing with it. NOTHING.
I was literally ready to start researching more creative consequences because I was at my wits end. And then it happened. She went a whole day without touching the computer. So yesterday every chance I got I would remind her, 'Wow you are doing so great today. You haven't touched the computer at all. You are such a big girl. You are doing such a good job obeying. If you keep it up you will get a sticker, and we can watch a video while you get ready for bed.' ...and wouldn't you know it, today got us the same results. Two whole days without touching the computer. Two whole days where I fall into bed without feeling completely defeated by my inability as a parent to teach my daughter right from wrong (in regards to the computer). Two whole days without having to spank my daughter. *Sigh*
Now I'm not sure that we won't ever be back where we were, but by God we have made progress. And I'm going to celebrate that progress. Every parent knows that you celebrate the wins when you can because tomorrow is a new day where my sweet little girly may find some other thing to fixate on and bring me to a place of tears for fighting the same battle over and over.

Celebrating day 2,

2 comments:

  1. Way to go!

    If it's a desktop can you reach behind the tower and pull out the peg thing for the keyboard and the peg thing for the mouse?

    ReplyDelete
  2. it's a laptop. i used to just close it, but she has figured out how to open it now too. ;)

    ReplyDelete