Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been 4 months since my last blog …..
Life has been hectic since my son (almost 3) hit the “terrible twos” fast and furious. 
I thought I had one of those rare, mutant children that would obey, not challenge my authority or my sanity and just wistfully breeze through toddlerhood leaving us all unscathed. Boy was I ever WRONG. My husband and I were hypothesizing the many reasons for my son’s sudden transformation into an unstable, sociopathic, uncooperative, challenging, mini person. We thought he was bored, so we bought him some new toys and threw those in the play area. Didn’t help. We concluded he was teething; the pain was making him act out. You know what it’s like when you have a dull, on-going pain… makes you cranky. We gave him ibuprofen for a few days. Didn’t help. We tried a reward chart. We were prepared to reward him for doing what he was SUPPOSED to do. In retrospect, utterly ridiculous. We thought, we were all stressed and in need of a change of scenery. We took a little trip to Walt Disney World. DIDN’T HELP. PROBLEM NOW MUCH WORSE!!! “MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Does anyone copy? PARENTS ARE IN TROUBLE. WE’RE GOING DOWN! I repeat, WE ARE GOING DOWN FAST!!!!” We’ve been to Disney a few times already because, after all, I had the mutant child that listened, obeyed, traveled beautifully and was pure joy to be around. Well, that was before THE CHANGE. The child now encompassing my beautiful boy’s body is this screaming, demanding, writhing little being with very little regard to anything but his own desires and agenda.
I must warn you if your child has yet to go through it. You put your lovely, angelic child to bed one night and the next morning something resembling a possessed and cracked out animal awakens. You look under his bed and in the closets to make sure aliens didn’t switch him out and your sweet baby is tucked away neatly somewhere, waiting for you to rescue him and banish this demon that has replaced him. You begin saying his name a few times to make sure it’s actually him in that cute little exterior and not a psychopathic stranger sent by the aliens to undo you, painfully and slowly.
My husband and I began drawing straws to see who would get to leave the house and escape the madness. I took up running just to escape the mayhem, no longer comical mind you- but serious, mayhem that makes you think you’re losing your mind. It wasn’t until I went into the church bookstore on a mission that we began to have some resolve. I was going to find a parenting book. 
A book that would help me figure out what to do with this child. I came across the book The Well Behaved Child. Discipline that Really Works. by John Rosemond. And somewhere on the cover I remember seeing “when time-out just doesn’t work.” YES! This was the case. NOTHING was working. You know how you feel silly or just plain dumb when you suddenly discover something so simple, yet you agonized over the “mystery” for what seems an eternity?! Well, EUREKA! This book takes you back to the good ‘ole days when parents still used common sense instead of all the psychobabble garbage the parenting books are telling us to use these days. Within 5 days of implementing the techniques in the book, which isn’t really a mystery- just a reminder of good ‘ole common sense parenting, our household was restored to peace and order. It’s just a matter of remembering who is actually in charge and the book helps you to “reboot” yourself so that you’re purged of all the liberal/new-agey nonsense you may have picked up along the way. Dr. Rosemond also helped me to rest assured that I wasn’t causing any long-term damage by enforcing the rules and supplying appropriate consequences. In fact, my child is MORE fun to be around. He hugs me and my husband more. He hugs his baby sister more. He’s more helpful, more pleasant, more obedient- I would venture to say he likes the new regime. I highly recommend John Rosemond’s parenting books. He has written several. It is the ONLY thing that has worked for us. I tried so many techniques. I prayed for help and I think God led me to this great man. He’s insightful, supportive and truly loves children and God. I will be forever grateful for his insight.
Motherhood Mayhem & Merriment 
Hey There Motherhoodmayhem,
Thanks, on a related note, Its been 10 years since I was last dealing with a toddler, and my youngest (17 months) is WAY more feisty than my older child ever was anyway.
Is 17 months too young for the terrible twos to be starting already? We are suddenly seeing the emergence of such a fiery temper and I’m wondering what its all about? Also, how young can you realistically start with time outs / naughty step?
Keep up the posts!
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I’m sorry you are now going through it! It is frustrating, but there is hope! I can tell you that we started out doing “time outs” in a chair and then his room. We set the timer for 1 minute per age of the child, as I had seen on Super Nanny. It DID NOT work. He wouldn’t stay in the chair or his room. I would have to hold him in it- which did nothing but frustrate all of us. I was finding myself exasperated! My son got so out of control testing limits he would kick me and at times even try slapping me. It became a battle of wills instead of discipline. When I found the book by John Rosemond at my church bookstore, I opened it randomly to a page that described the situation I was in. It explained so much to me! When I ordered the book specific to two-year olds, it REALLY explained it to me. The book talked about confinement- two-year olds lack the self control to sit in a chair or stay where you put them, so the author suggested having a carpenter cut the child’s bedroom door in half to make it a dutch door and confine him. My husband is pretty handy, so we installed a security screen door on top of his door. We also removed anything “fun” from his room. He has his bed, his dresser and a little chair. The idea is to make the “punishment” a good enough impact that they dread it. Two minutes in a chair wasn’t a big enough impact, in fact he would no more than get out of the chair and go right back to doing what I had just told him not to! The first week I began the new regime, my son spent almost the entire first 3 days in his room. He tested and tested to see how long until I caved (as I had in the past because I felt bad- I hated to hear him cry and yell). Now when I speak, he listens and he obeys. I can take him to the store and he stays right at my side. It’s rare he gets sent to his room because he hates it and typically obeys to avoid it. I was so consistent he knows I don’t give second chances- if he breaks the rules it’s off to his room fro 10 minutes. Ten minutes in a room with NOTHING to do for a toddler- make an impact. It’s just a matter of teaching them that you mean business. My husband and I really had to support one another through that first week- but we committed to this new way of doing things. His misbehavior was literally tearing our family apart. We were all so unhappy and tired all the time (including my toddler!) We couldn’t have any fun because his behavior always ruined it. The author warned it will go something like this: The first day is awful! When your child learns there’s a new sheriff in town he will be none too happy. The second and third days he may come around and begin to do what he’s supposed to do. The fourth to fifth days he decides he’s tired of these new rules and he tries to wear you down to abandon the new ways. It gets worse before it gets better! The author told us to: under NO CIRCUMSTANCE revert to old habits at this point. The minute you cave, the child regains control and the problem only gets worse. I really encourage you to get the book, “Making the Terrible Twos Terrific.” It changed our lives! You will see that the author truly loves children and only wants to help facilitate happy, healthy families that function superbly. We have so much more fun and he is so loving- hugs and kisses now instead of getting out of control and kicking me. Blessings to you and your family and good luck!!!
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