Disciplining

RaeAnne napped very late again at 3pm today despite taking cough syrup, cold med and phelgm med. I think the med are losing their magic effect. It was a lousy day for her as well as us. First, she bite the maid in the afternoon when she was trying to shower her, (I was in the room with Mei Mei but rushed out, I beat on her mouth when she does that). I locked her outside in the balcony at dinner time when she used the pair of nail scissors to 'cut' Filamie pants when she tried to take away her scissors(she had a red mark on the skin). She even got slapped by Daddy for first spitting water than pouring water out of her water bottle (when Daddy told her not to spit out the water). I was showering then and when I came out, I saw the red mark on her right cheek. Sigh, corporal punishment is wrong, all the parenting books say that. But what can we do? Reading the positive discipline book again. It said to remove the child from the situation firmly and gently and allow her to play again only when she is able to play nice.

If she loves to bite, hang an object on her body and let her bite that instead. So that she knows it is not ok to bite people, if she wants to bite, she can bite the object (teething ring perhaps?) Most kids bite according to the book cos they are not able to express themselves and they are testing the reaction of the bitee. Raeanne can talk very well but I noticed she always does that when she is frustrated. After saying no to something for 2 or 3 times but the person still keep asking her to shh shh or eat or go n shower etc, she will start beating or kicking. Told the maid to use distraction n pian her but she still have not learned the trick. An ex colleague smsed me today, her baby was born in early Jan and she told me her gal also beat and pull the maid's hair. Terrible how kids learn who they can bully. She has also tried both beating and scolding the child but it didn't work. Sigh.

Anyway, we'll try to solve one problem at a time. Asked hubby to draw a sleep chart of what RaeAnne must do before she sleeps eg. drink milk, use potty, mummy read 1 book and sing 1 song, mummy off the light and she sleeps alone on her bed. All went well until the last part as expected. Asked hubby to sit outside the door but she was not placated and he still had to go in until she fell asleep. First night, mission failed. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

We are all tired and frustrated today. Tomorrow, I've got a dental appt at NDC so will be leaving both kids at MIL's house. Glad to have a break. Don't want to keep losing my temper on RaeAnne too but she's not making it easy. Sigh.