I was mentioning to one of my girlfriends {who, for the record, does not have any kids} that Lil J just started a phase where he will purposely nudge or brush against another kid as they walk by. Sometimes he does it to adults too but they just brush it off and laugh because....well when a two year-old does it, it's kind of cute. Each time this happens, I let Lil J know in a very stern voice that it is wrong and not okay. He apologizes and then it happens again. Obviously this always happens in public so I'm not going to create a huge scene but by the time we get home, he's not going to remember what he did.
My girlfriend asked if I put him in "time out". I told her no because we're out in public...and how would that really work anyways? She said to put him in a corner or on the stairs and just make him sit there for two minutes. Really? Make a toddler sit in one place for two minutes while we're out in a non-familiar surrounding? Not gonna happen. I wonder if maybe she was talking about doing it at home but that would kind of defeat the purpose since the incident would be long forgotten by Lil J and he truly wouldn't understand why he was being punished if it was hours after the fact.
Did my girlfriend overstep her boundaries in saying this? What does she really know about having a little kid around? I know she babysits her nieces and nephews but let's get real. It's different when they're not your own kids.
I wonder why I feel so offended. I know my girlfriend was probably just trying to help out but it sort of came out the wrong way. How do you deal with disciplining your kids in a public setting?
