For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 07, 2022

Elly at that age a timeout should be 2 minutes at the most.

April is two. She Should be able to climb out of the crib.

My kids were like April. Time-outs did NOT work. They simply entertained themselves while they waited me out. :P

My niece used to force herself to cry like that.

My husband was an abused child, but has incredible parenting instincts (because of…or in spite of). The only time I ever had to correct him was when our older daughter, who was about 2 or 3 at the time, did something & he called her a “bad girl”. I took him into another room (one parent should NEVER correct the other parent in front of the child) and gently told him that the CHILD isn’t bad; the BEHAVIOR is. He never made that mistake again

Having a fit is hard work if nobody is there to see the performance. Timing is everything when you’re tantrum-ing.

Any bets the opposite attitudes are going to happen here compared to the way they just disciplined Michael?

As young as she is and she knows ‘Holly’ from ‘Stone Soup’ ! ! ! !

My kids could escape from the crib at her age.

Good thing for April they didn’t have a video monitor.

Perfectly timed.

April has already figured out how to “play” daddy.

Time out is just a rest period. I would usually fall asleep. What the big punishment is when you have access to toys and everything else is beyond me. And when you consider that nowadays it is just supposed to be one minute per age, meaning 2 or 3 minutes for April, I seriously don’t see the point of it. Virtually any kid can outlast that. We went a lot longer when I was a kid.

Babies’ survival skills…….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA52uNzx7Y4

Who said anything about time out in the first place? I don’t think Elly was thinking about “time out.” She was sent to (or put in) her room for an undetermined amount of time. Could be just a minute or two, or half an hour or more—just until she was ready to take her to Anne’s.

Crocodile tears and dad fell for it.

Yep, it is daaadaaa!

She knows a soft touch.

April looks more comfortable being punished than not being punished.

I have never understood how being banished to their room was a punishment for any child. All of their possessions are in there, especially the toys. I have a niece who would sit her daughter(s) down about halfway up a staircase for time-out. It was far enough away to not interact with anyone and close enough to keep an eye on her (them).

I am too old to understand the mechanics of a “Time Out” for children under about age 5. Is that the same as I used to get, “Stand in the Corner until I say you can get out again”? Time served got longer as I got older. Hey! I was not the fast learner in those respects. :)