Record Breaker

Eleanor took the longest time out ever today. It was about 45 minutes, but it could have been a little longer since I didn't look at the clock at the very beginning of the fiasco. Now, before you jump straight to the comment section to tell me what a terrible parent I am and how I'm too hard on her, let me just say it was her choice.

We used to just put her in her room for time out and tell her to come out when she was ready to cooperate. Sometimes, that would only be a matter of seconds before she would have a change of heart. When that became less effective, we switched to a legitimate 3 min. time out in her room. As soon as we put her in there, she would open her door so she could stand there and protest. We let her cry all she wanted; as long as she stayed in her room, we were satisfied.

More recently, she has been in need of a more stern punishment, so we have been making her keep the door shut. We set the kitchen timer, and if she opens the door, time starts over. If she never closes her door, the timer doesn't start until she does. There is no way to lock her in there, so she pretty much just has to submit. Sometimes, when I have realized she was way too tired to be rational, I have held the doorknob for the full 3 min. so she wouldn't escape. Lately, I have wanted it to be her choice, to make her go to the effort to obey. The other day, it took about 15 min. and quite a few times marching her back to her room before she slammed the door shut and kept it shut the full 3 min. I saw some improvement after that . . . until today.

She must have been feeling really stubborn, and I think she was trying to test my pity because she kept crying "Mommy" in a very forlorn little voice. Combine that with our serious lack of sleep from last night, and she was not in a submissive mood. She took 42 minutes (from the time I looked at the clock) to finally shut her door and leave it shut. Meanwhile, Phaedra and I played, put away laundry, and even started eating dinner without her. At the end of it all, Eleanor was a very cooperative little girl. Victory for Mommy.