Toddler discipline continued.

I promised a review of the two books I am using to hatch my discipline plan for my toddler.

I downloaded both, "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Harvey Karp M.D. and "1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children ages 2-12" by Thomas w. Phelan PhD. Onto my iPad.

Whew, what a sentence! Sorry it wasn't really properly written out, but I am no longer in grad school, so that's all the effort I will put into making the information pretty.

I have both of the books on my iPad which really is super convenient and stops my baby girl from eating my books. I have been reading them during her nap times and even though I am not finished I will tell you it's a relief to have some clear ideas.

First "the Happiest Toddler on the Block" or as another mom put it, THTOTB. Like NKOTBSB but for toddler discipline! What I like about this book so far is at explains a toddlers brain/thinking in a very approachable way. Dr. Karp reminds us that toddlers are not mini adults but little beings that have "cave man" like mentalities and as a result need us as parents to relate to them on their level. This means using what he calls "toddler-ese", a way of speaking with toddlers using their language.

Dr. Karp writes that most of us probably speak to our toddler this way. An example was if a child does something they are proud of, such as go down the slide by themselves, then looks to their parent for a reaction. Our reaction probably won't be stiff, like *"That was the perfect way to get yourself from the top of the slide to the bottom". Instead we will most likely say "Wow, good job!" with an enthusiastic voice and gestures. These short statements and more animated reaction is toddler-ese.

Toddler-ese will come in handy when your lovely child is having a tantrum or being emotional in some way. I am still working on this idea for myself. I still feel silly and not sure it's working, but I am not done with the book yet. There are many more techniques and ideas that will help me to have a clear plan in place.

As for 1-2-3 Magic I just read the first chapter so far, which is an overview of the book. I love the writing style of this book so far, will write about it again once I am further along!

Thanks for sticking with my explanation, haven't done a book report in a long time!

*my quote of Dr. Karp's example, totally butchered his idea, but hope it makes some sense!

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