AGH!

Okay, deep breath.

How to approach disciplining your children has to stem from your own parenting philosophies, but it also has to be adaptable. The majority of the lessons I'm learning from my second daughter have to do with understanding how what worked for one doesn't always work for the other.

For example, I don't spank. I believe in respecting my children, and feel that spanking them is disrespectful to them. I also feel that chronic spanking is abusive.

Okay, I lie. In theory I don't spank, but there are times when all other options are exhausted and the situation warrants something "shocking". For example when Piper (my second daughter) was runnning away from me a lot. Restraining/constraining wasn't working, "time outs" weren't working, taking away privileges wasn't working, reasoning with her (ha ha ha) wasn't working, and finally a little pop on the tush worked. However, with Phoebe, the loss of a privilege was extremely effective.

I'm having a tough time lately, though, finding what's going to work to convince Piper to stop the piercing scream. And Phoebe's whining has to go as well.

I'm finding an occasional glass of wine with the whine to be very therapeutic. However, at the rate she was going this past week, I better watch I don't become an alcoholic.