1,2,3 Magic

Now that we're a month and a half into the school year (God is that it?! It feels twice that long!)Kyra has settled down... a bit. She's not coming home with blood-stained shirts from anxious nose picking. And, the bathroom accidents have not quite disappeared, but dwindled in number.

It's been a couple weeks since we started using the 1,2,3 Magic technique with Kyra. The premise behind it is to get her to stop bad behavior, albeit whining, arguing, tantrums, by using no emotion (when you're ready to pack their bags and move 'em out, this is the hardest), no talking to her as if she's an adult (Reasoning with a 5-year-old mid-tantrum? As if they can hear you anyway.), count to 3 and then if they haven't stopped a time out in their room. You really have to shut yourself down, because there's this whole negotating thing that she tries during this process and you just have to ignore her. But, I'm following the book, so I have permission to be cold-hearted. We're still working on being consistent. I'm happy to say that it's working. By the time I get to 2, she's stopping. Of course, there have been days, where she would just keep going back in her room for a time out. We've also started the Token Economy by rewarding good behavior with tokens. The girls collect the tokens and can exchange them for money, toys, trips, whatever. It forces you to look for the good rather than focus on the bad. That's been helpful. And we've given them jobs. At the end of the week, they earn tokens. They take great pride in getting their jobs done (when they think of them) and marking them off on the chart.

However, I think because we're repressing Kyra's tantrums she's now unleashing them on Ella. Ella, who tried to help Kyra unbutton her pjs the other morning, received quite an earful. GET OUT OF MY ROOOOOOOOOM! RIGHT NOOOWWWWW! I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP!!!! GET OUUUUUUUT! Poor Ella, how she doesn't haul off and sock her one I have no idea.

Anyway, I highly recommend the book if you're kids are running the house.