Makiya PUTS HERSELF in Time-Out

Yesterday, my little girl, who is only a couple months away from being two, showed me a glimpse of our life when she is, at the very least, a “pre-teen”…


I was busy getting dishes and counters cleaned up in the kitchen when she dumped out the box containing her Dora puzzle in the hallway. I asked her to pick them up and she said no, in that way she has; little smile, arms sway as she does a little defiant twist. I was pre-occupied, so we battled a little for a few moments;

“Makiya, pick them up.”
“No.”
Makiya, please listen to mommy.”
“No.”
“Makiya! Listen to mommy! I asked you to pick up your puzzle please!”
“No.”
 “Makiya, do you want to go for a time out?”
“Hmph.”

So, I started the countdown, “One……., Two……” She turned around and headed towards the puzzle finally. I smiled a little to myself, thinking “ahh, thank you…” I then said, “that’s good, thank you honey.” I realized then that I was not hearing a sound, certainly not the sound of her putting them in the box, so I went around the corner and she wasn’t there. I looked around the other corner into the dining room, and there she was, sitting on the little couch that we have been using for time outs. She had PUT HERSELF in time out!

My little toddler was telling me something; “I DO NOT want to pick it up, period, end of story. If you want to argue with me, fine, I will go sit down and “think about it.””