Bring on the “Yeses”

Recently I have found myself caught in a world of “don’t,” “stop,” “no!” Mostly with my three year old terror, but it’s a natural part of my vocabulary. Now “Johnny Social Worker,” no need to comment on how horrible it is to communicate with your children this way. I get it, that’s why I’m blogging. You, my wonderful readers, are not my priest that I’m confessing to (if I were Catholic that is). You are the people I’m fessing up to.

I never thought I’d live to see the day, but Drew isn’t my largest problem child anymore. Don’t get me wrong, he still has a tantrum when I tell him no more iPad and throws his fair share of curve balls my way. But Gabby has turned into the true menace to society. Everything is an issue, everything is an ordeal and she’s the one who has been doing me in these days (with a little help from her brothers).

We have found ourselves in this vicious cycle of “don’t,” “stop,” “no!” As much as I loathe myself after screaming at her (my little sweet girl who has this insane devilish streak), I can’t seem to control the fact that we perpetually end up in the same predicament.

I have tried to pull all the positive reinforcements I can possibly pull out of an otherwise stressful exchange. And no matter how I try, we always end up in a “don’t,” “stop,” “no” situation. It needs to end. It’s not helping her behavior, nor my sanity (or lack thereof!). So bring on the “yeses!” Bring on the “why nots!” I might as well since what I’ve currently got going on is sooooo not working.