1, 2, 3 Magic!

No pulling a bunny out of a hat or making a quarter come out of your ear, we are talking mommy magic. We have hit the terrible twos with Jacob and we were in need of some magic. My sweet hubs gets credit for this one. He is the one that stumbled upon 1, 2, 3 Magic (a discipline program), bought the kindle version and checked out the dvds at our local library.

The magic comes into play when your kids magically stop that obnoxious behavior. Chucking trains, crumbling to the ground, slapping you, lovingly driving toy cars on their sister's head. Yes, we are taking bout my child. Well, every kid has their poison (bad behavior of choice). This doesn't mean they're bad kids, or more importantly, we are bad parents. It's just that they are fairly new to this great, big world and they are still learning to navigate it, explore, learn new things, and express their emotions. Sometimes they don't have the best skills in place to do this without a melt down. But, then again, sometimes neither do I :/

1, 2, 3 Magic teaches you to use counting and consequences to discipline without wasting your time arguing, yelling or being physical. The hard part is sticking to the rules. Count firmly, be silent in between, be consistent in what you consider count worthy and most importantly, be CALM!!! I love how the author, Dr. Phelan, describes it. You are NOT raising mini adults, you are raising wild animals. The sooner we accept that, the more realistic our expectations.

Well, I jumped right in and let me tell you, it works. Now, your child isn't going to all of a sudden stop bad behavior on the first count. But, they do make progress very quickly. I started on a Tuesday and that same day he already understood what the counting meant. It has been about three weeks and he often stops a behavior by the second count and even puts himself on timeout when he knows something was 3 count worthy. Wow! The thing that I like about the program the most is what it has taught me. It has helped me stay calm and really pay attention to why Jacob is misbehaving. It has helped me to be a more in control and intentional parent.