Timeouts or not….. February 1, 2008
Posted by Mridula in Toddler years, kids.Tags: time out, time outs, toddler, toddler tantrums, twins
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Time outs or not….. we face this question a lot these days.
Jayesh and I cannot get around to doing the timeout thing. we come from 2 completely different backgrounds and still have the same opinion. I had really strict parents and we were punished for doing or not doing something we were told. No questions asked. Jayesh had the exact opposite experience where he would be reprimanded but almost never had a time out.
Of late we hear a lot about not making time out to be a punishment but giving them the down time to understand the outcome of their actions. This sounds good but we are still not sure how to do this.
For eg: Last week Rohan/Arjun broke a dvd….
Our first reaction was - what did you do ronu and he looks at us like ‘oh i am not supposed to do this?’
So then we realize that first its our mistake – it cannot be within reach and now what do we do next?
You cant give them a timeout for something they dont know and then we tell them – if you do this then you can’t see Curious George because thats where it comes from . They seem to understand it but i dont think it means it wont happen again.
so now if they break a dvd again, they dont get to see curious george for a couple of days and that seems a good way to get the point across but we will most probably have to find something equally interesting for them to do in the meantime. so we are really paying for their mistake because now instead of letting them watch the episode and get some time to have dinner, we get to find a way to entertain them (most likely read a couple of books) .
will be interesting to see what others do in this situation, what is the option to a time out?
Language development January 9, 2008
Posted by Mridula in Toddler years, kids.Tags: 2 year old, bilingual, boys, indian languages, kannada, kids, language development, tamil, toddler, toddler twins
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The kids are now almost 2. We are certainly thru with all night feeding and changing and we get our 8 hours of sleep but doesn’t seem enough!Life with two 2 year olds is somewhat like the college days for us. You are really busy trying to get your degress but still having a great time. Friends, movies, parties in the midst of exams and lectures.
Thats exactly how we feel these days.
The imaginary games are unimaginably funny. Most recent is after my parents visit in Aug 07. Since they left the kids pick up a bag and say they are going to Bombay. It is so adorable! All this time we were wondering what goes on in their little minds and now we can actually hear it. Rohan will repeat everything you say. (i need to be really careful with my words.) They are so uninhibited when it comes to speaking in Tamil, Kannada or English. Jayesh speaks Kannada and I speak Tamil. Both are indian languages but quite different from each other. All these years i have not been able to get myself to speak in kannada because i am not sure how right it would be. Now he can speak better than i can even attempt! They still prefer english, mainly because thats one commone language between home and day care i think.
Speech i think is by far the biggest milestone in the second year. Between March and Nov they have gone from a vocabulary of just a few words to sentances.
Challenges -
We can also sense that they now have a mind of their own. there is always some particular book or spoon or toy they are looking for. nothing else will do. we have been warned enough about the 2 yr tantrums but i dont think anything can prepare you for it. Something that seems to have worked for us so far is the fact that we are pretty laid back but I am not so sure that will work with a 2 year old!
