
Paulo was put in a timeout while on a playdate. His friend, Amalie, decided to join him for moral support.
I started putting Paulo in timeouts when he was about 12-months old. It seemed so silly to put him in a corner because at his age I didn’t really know if he understood the reason or grasped the concept. According to Dr. Sears, timeouts should be around one minute per year of age. So since he was a year old, he sat in the “naughty corner” for one minute.
The first time I put him in timeout, he sat for about two seconds, then ran back to me with a big smile. I guess he thought it was a game. I couldn’t help but smile back because he was just so darn cute! So just what every mother would do, I swooped him up and showered him with kisses until he giggled.
The subsequent times that followed weren’t “cute” anymore. This time I meant business! Every time he hit his sister, he was sent to the naughty corner. I guess after many timeouts, it finally clicked. Now at 21-months, he runs up to his sister, hits her, then walks to his corner. (Stinker!) Ok, I guess he learned the wrong lesson, but in his defense, he usually hits his sister if she happens to take away the toy he was playing with.