Time Out

Does it work for you? I'm not so sure it works for us. Here's how it typically goes:

Me: "Chloe, stop doing that."
Chloe: "NO!"

I give her one more chance, because sometimes that works. Most times, it doesn't. So, then this happens.

Me: "You are in trouble now. Go to the corner for your time out."
(Really, I'm yelling by this point. I just pretend that I'm calm and collected for your benefit.)
Chloe: *screaming & kicking* NO!!!!!

I drag her to the corner. The first 5 seconds she stands there without doing or saying anything. Then she turns around, or picks at the wall, or sits down, or something.

Me: "Put your nose in the corner." I need to be sure she knows this is a punishment.
Chloe: "No! Leave me alone!"

I start counting to 3 while she tries to hit me. I'm really good at blocking her blows. I grab her hands and turn her around so she is facing the corner.

Me: "Chloe, we do not hit! And, you do not tell me no!"

She is still screaming and hitting. Depending on her mood, this part may take a while. Then suddenly, in her pathetic voice, she starts counting...

Chloe: "One, two, tree, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eweven, or-teen, sixteen, eighteen... I'm sorry Mommy. I didn't mean to. I'm not bad, I good! I sorry Mama..."

This goes on until I acknowledge she is talking, which depends on how upset I am. Then, I ask her what she did wrong.

Chloe: "Umm..." She puts her index finger on her cheek. This is a hard question.

Then, without answering me, she starts smiling and posing. She twists her upper body to the side and rests her chin on her shoulder, all the while batting her eyelashes at me. She's giving it all she's got. (Michael is a sucker for this act.)

I look away because I know I'm going to start laughing. This is a sign of weakness, and she knows it. No matter where I look, she maneuvers herself to be in my field of vision.

She knows it's working.

I collect myself, not willing to give in. I look her straight in the eyes and ask her again what she did wrong.

Chloe: "Umm...." She starts tapping her cheek again, "No hitting, no screaming, no biting." She starts reciting The Rules. (Side note: she made up The Rules. I did not have anything to do with it.)

At some point, I decide to help her out. I tell her that she does not tell me no, that I am the mommy and she has to listen to me when I ask her to do something, hitting is bad, and so on.

She just looks at me with a blank stare. And, then she's off and running.

I always feel defeated and I'm pretty sure she thinks she has won. I need to figure out a new form of punishment.