Security Alarm

We'd had rather good luck, with regards to having a child that stayed in bed when put down for a nap or for for the night. But lately, she was getting out of bed, playing and otherwise not being in bed. We'd still been using the baby monitor since the big TV is a ways away from her bedroom and we liked to retreat there after she was down for the night. So it finally dawned on me... the other part of the AngelCare Baby Monitor with Motion Sensor was a motion sensor. Placed between the mattress and the crib bottom, it was designed to sound an alarm after a certain period of time if it didn't sense breathing or movement.

We, praise God, never had a real opportunity to see if it worked. But it did sound twice when she had scooted all the way into the corner and was laying up against the bars.

Anyhow, I brought out the motion pad and stuck it between her bedframe and the mattress and then I turned it on and we sat on the floor and waited. When it started going off, I told her that would happen any time she got out of bed and so she shouldn't get out of bed unless something was wrong. I waited a few days before adding that a punishment would follow if she got out of bed and nothing was wrong.

It's seemed to work really well. It's only gone off once or twice in the last week, she's otherwise done well at staying in bed. (Or sitting on the edge of her bed kicking her toys.)

First Time Obedience

We're doing the Ezzo parenting study "Growing Kids God's Way" at church. While they seem overly strict, I'm finding it really interesting. I'd only heard biased bits and pieces before and formed my own opinion before even starting the class, but to hear them explain why they teach what they teach, I have to admit that a lot of it makes sense.

Really interesting is the idea that at this age, when a child is asked to do something, there is really only one response... "Yes, daddy." or "Yes, mommy."

Anything else is willful disobedience. And so it becomes a matter of spiritual training, so that should there be an instance where disobedience isn't just frustration, but also a matter of safety or security, you and the child end up with the confidence that the right thing is going to happen. (Apparently as they grow older, they earn the right to essentially request an "appeal.")

Our little one isn't to this stage yet and likes to push the boundaries, see what she can get away with, whether or not we're going to hold her punish her or not. And that's the hardest part, being consistent.

But I think overall, things are probably better off for all of us because we're taking this class. I can see where I've been pretty lax in the past, or where I've been pleading and repeating and becoming exasperated. This course is giving me tools to help have a consistent framework in which to act and react and is helping Rachel to know what's expected of her.

Interesting stuff.