The First Time-Out

Today I took Michael home, gave him some yogurt as a snack (which he ate all on his own with a minimum of fuss), and then started to watch a tv show of my own.

He was fine with this until he finished his yogurt and, instead of getting him some right away, I offered him some bread. That may not seem like a great deal, but normally he likes bread and he even initially reached for it eagerly... before he clearly remembered that he wanted yogurt and went from grabbing it to pushing it away.

Then, when I told him he didn't have to eat it, he threw it across the room. I told him that wasn't cool, took the bread, and said "No yogurt."

Cue tears.

Then he started demanding "Minky" (he knows, and sometimes says, it is "Mickey Mouse" but I think the word "monkey" is just something he's already familiar with) because recently we got two episodes of the The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. Insistently. Repeatedly.

I held out for about fifteen minutes, and then gave him five minutes of Mickey before (with plenty of warning) switching back to my show.

He flipped, completely. He was inconsolable. After a few minutes with at best momentary reprieves I took him back to his room in the hopes he'd find something there to distract him, but got nothing; as soon as I put him down he wailed all the way into his bed. After I made it clear that there would be no Mickey, I told him to play with his toys and left with the door open.

Five minutes of crying.

I went back in to make sure he was ok, and he basically said the word "Mickey" about a dozen times over the course of thirty seconds as he cried. I told him that there would be no Mickey, and that he could come outside and sit with me when he was happy again.

About ten minutes later (with plenty of crying in the meantime) he came toddling out with his dog toy, his teddy bear, and his little "snuggle" blanket all in his arms, laughing.

His temper was still a little short for the rest of the evening, but we had fun playing with the dog and bear (I made voices for each and had them do dive-bombing runs to hug him in a way that he found hilarious) with a big turn-around in attitude once Veronica got home.

When I told her about it she noted that this was Michael's first time-out, and I gotta say that if that's the case he handled it pretty well.

He's a sweet little guy, even when he is crazy.

Can't believe he turns two next month.