Disciplining Children

I did it. I tapped Isaiah on the leg, kinda hard. He is crawling around everywhere and getting into everything. Anytime I tell him no he just smiles and laughs at me. Usually I just take away whatever he has, but tonight I took it one step further. I hurt his feelings and now my feeling are hurt too. :(

Disciplining my children is something I often struggle with. I know they need discipline, but it hurts me to hurt them. I'm sure many people can relate to that. I know our kids need boundaries, but it is still hard for me. My husband will easily tell you that he does most of the disciplining around here. Now that I am home with our kids all the time I need to toughen up. God tells us that if we love our children we should discipline them promptly (Proverbs 13:24).

Believe it or not, I have learned a lot from Supernanny. See, reality television is productive sometimes. One thing Supernanny helped me with in regards to Jazlyn is to make sure she is listening. Most of the time she is in her own little world and doesn't hear what we say to her. Time outs usually work very well for her. She is not too much of a problem, as long as she is not sleepy. Then she turns into some other child whom I would rather not speak of.

So I know how to discipline Jazlyn (sometimes), but I'm not too sure what to do with Isaiah right now. He needs some form of discipline. He has tried to scratch and bite me already. I'm not really sure if he realizes what he is doing or not, but either way he needs to know that it is unacceptable. As big as he is, he will be able to overpower me at two years old. That tapping on the leg tore me to pieces, and I don't know if I want to go that route again. He cried and cried and cried and cried some more. I'm not sure, however, if he would understand time out. I don't think he would. So what do I do?

Maybe I will call Supernanny and see what she suggests. I will let you know what she says.

~Melissa