First Time-Out

Well, it had to come sooner or later... Anthony's first time-out.

We've had some problems the past few nights with our eager tot waking early in the morning, and yesterday it was before 6:00am. Of course, an early rising spud equals crankiness later. Yesterday he went to Ms. Erica's for the day, and seemingly had a great time... except for skipping his afternoon nap. I guess the change in scenery and routine was much too exciting, and he slept for maybe half an hour, whereas he's been doing two to three hour naps.

So after I picked him up and brought him back home, I had him lay down with me on my bed thinking I could squeeze an hour or so nap out of him. He wasn't very interested in sleeping at first; it was far more intriguing to point out and name the parts of my face. All fine and dandy, until he decided it would be fun to slap my face. No, Anthony, I said, calmly but firmly. He did it again. NO Anthony, I repeated, a little more forcefully this time. SLAP. NO! I grabbed hold of his hand, and he laughed at me!

That's it! I jumped up, grabbed him off the bed, and put his little butt in the corner. I blocked him into the space by using my arms, and told him he was in time-out for hitting mommy. Good God. You would've thought I had pushed him off a cliff. DADDY, DADDY! he shouted desperately as mean mommy instilled the first-ever punishment, tears streaming down his face. It lasted all of, oh, maybe a minute, before I scooped him back up and explained why he had been in time-out. He continued to snivel and snot for a few minutes until thankfully, he had tired himself out enough to fall asleep.

We've been discussing the need to start time-outs, and now it looks like it's an official Chantel and Adam DiMuzio family policy. I'm not going to have a brat child that runs around without control, hitting and acting rambunctious as he pleases. He's a smart kid; I hope he learns a good lesson from it.

In running news: this week, the longest run of my life to date-- 15 miles. Next week, the longest run of my life to date- 16 miles. YIKES!!