Tuesday, September 2, 2008

No means NO

So we are trying to start setting some boundaries for Collin. The experts say that whenever Collin is doing something he shouldn't you should look directly at him and sternly say NO, or DON'T DO THAT. They say that you should tell him with your facial expressions that you mean business.
Have you seen how Cute Collin is? And when he is doing something he shouldn't he gets even cuter? So keeping your facial expressions serious and not laughing while trying to set those boundaries is really hard. Collin always does something that would normally make you smile or laugh, but in this magic moment you have to look at him seriously and sternly.

Just so you know I get to practice this whenever Collin gets near the Cat food and water. Collin will look at me telling him NO then look back at the bowl with his hand hovering over it as if to say "I'm Not doing anything" then look back at me. He has this question in his head like Does Daddy not want me to do this? or I wish daddy would leave me alone so I could eat this cat food! Either way he is learning my stern face and he pulls away.
So goes life, and I am glad that Collin is pushing my boundaries and I can establish his. Although I do not look forward to punishing him I do look forward to helping him grow up into a great Man with strong boundaries.
Once again, I enjoy being his Daddy.

1 comment:

Maria said...

Hee hee.. you have to show in your facial expressions that you are the "alpha" eh? Tony took some dog training classes before Matthew was born to train our dog Domino. He uses what he learns on Matthew all of the time.. Calm and Assertive! as the Dog Whisperer says.. works on babies too.. sometimes.