Timeout is really a wonderful thing. As a mother of a 2-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl, timeout makes an appearance every so often — even if timeout is actually a time for this mama to chill out and take a breather.
Yes, I am a firm believer in a good time out session and a swat on the backend when things start to get out of control. Some parents frown upon such behavior, calling it atrocious or even barbaric, but I grew up in the generation when Granny would say “Go get a switch, you’re getting it now!” And boy, let me tell you I got it! One memory sticks out of when I played beauty shop with my Granny’s fluffy Pomeranian and he had a “new do,” for weeks. I don’t think I sat comfortably for weeks following that stunt.
One day last week, I was irritable, cranky and whiny. Everything my children are when they need a time out. In fact, I ran around being a total brat that afternoon. In the middle of disciplining my children for taking the couch cushions off the couch for a third time to play “the floor is lava,” I just gave up. I let them have the lava floor and pried my husband from his computer. It was his turn to deal with hot lava before this mama erupted.
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