Winging It

Sam is super cute. And smart. And funny. Generally, he's a lot of fun to be around.

Those are the things I try to remember every time Sam hits or bites his dad. Which is fairly frequently these days. This morning was the worst of it. After giving him the "hands are not for hitting" lecture a couple of times, Sam gave it some thought, wound up, and punched Dave square in the jaw.

"That's it!" I said. "You are going to your room!"

I carried him in there kicking and screaming, put him down on the rug, closed the door, and listened to him cry for three minutes. He didn't even try to get out.

This was Sam's very first version of a time-out. He's not really a time-out kind of kid and we're not really time-out parents, but something had to be done. Mostly for my sake. Showing who's boss. That sort of thing.

We made it through the morning without a third round of hitting. I'm calling it a minor success.