Friday, June 25, 2010

Behavior Issues

As I mentioned earlier, we've been having a big problem with tantrums around here. They happen 2 or 3 times a day, most often when we are leaving someplace he would rather stay (like the park). I've tried to ignore them and I certainly don't give into them -- which means I am frequently shoving a thrashing toddler into a stroller. I've been taking this approach for about a year now -- thinking at some point he would figure out that he wasn't getting anywhere with his behavior and give up. But, of course, this is Elliot and, if he is anything, he is stubborn. Lately he has decided that he doesn't like it when I ignore him, so he has starting escalating his behavior -- by hitting me, kicking me or scratching my face. I think I need to escalate my approach in response -- with some seriously negative consequences. Hit him where it hurts, so to speak. I just have no clue what those ought to be (and yes, we already do time outs). Any thoughts?

Monday, June 21, 2010

Linea's Graduation

Linea rocks. Here's why:

She is an unabashed nerd who is not ashamed of her love of all things fantasy or Nintendo related.
She runs circles around the rest of us smarts-wise.
She thinks the Quill and the Sword (you know, that club where people dress up in chain mail and fight with wooden swords?) sounds awesome. She may join.
She's funny.
And she is the first Kemsley girl (myself included) that my parents are truly sad to see leave the home. Who knew a 17 year old could be so pleasant? None of the rest of us want her to go either!

Random Note: During her graduation, we learned that the term "bored to tears" is not just a figure of speech. See the picture of Josh below.

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Just to Make it Clear

That my kid doesn't crap rainbows (as a friend put is so well on her blog), this is a photo of what we've been dealing with lately. On the upside, my "forcing a screaming, thrashing toddler into a stroller" skills have been totally perfected.

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