Battle Of The Wills; Parents - 3, Jadon – 0

It has been a tough season and Jadon has put on a strong defense. Mom’s offense has been pretty weak and her defense even weaker. Employing the common strategies of a 2-year old, Jadon has managed to break through the parental line in one scrimmage after another. So mom and dad called a time out, huddled up and devised a new game plan: Consistency. So far it seems to be working - Jadon has now suffered three major hits in 2 days and is at a complete loss how to combat these new tactics. Mom and Dad are doing their little victory dance with the occasional high five.

Game 1:
Mom was cleaning Jadon’s room and making his bed. He kept jumping on the bed, interfering with mom’s bed making techniques despite repeated attempts of asking him not to. It was time for mom to get tough. Jadon loves pacifiers and prefers to carry 5 around with him at all times - today was no exception. So mom told Jadon that if he threw things in anger, hit something or disobeyed, the pacifiers would be taken away one at a time. In a move that surprised mom Jadon lost all his pacifiers in less than a minute. Once the pacifiers ran out she knew it was going to get ugly but she was determined to meet him head on. He cried for his pacifiers and when he didn’t get them back he threw toys. He got a time out in the only room of the house he couldn’t get out of or destroy – the bathroom. He screamed and screamed – the nerve of mom giving him time out in a room without toys! After a few minutes he was allowed back in his room. He asked for his pacifiers and mom said he could have one if he said please. After all was said and done (this included throwing things, hitting things, disobeying mom and many, many, many, many, many, many time outs) it took 6 hours to break his will. He finally stopped throwing, hitting and disobeying and said ‘please’ for a pacifier.

Game 2:
After finishing a sippee of juice this morning Jadon said, “more juice”. Mom told hime he had to say please. He shook his head and said ‘no’ to which mom replied, “Until you say please you won’t get juice”. It is now after lunch and he is still refusing to say please so he hasn’t gotten any juice.

Game 3:
Mom was cleaning up the Christmas decorations and told Jaodn he would lose his pacifier if he got into them. Not surprisingly he decided to test that threat and started rummaging around the bag of decorations mom had just packed. So he lost his pacifier. Then mom told him he would get a time out in his room (now clean, and with the exception of his bedding, destroy-proof) if he continued to get into the Christmas decorations. Within 30 seconds he was in time-out. Later in the day it was time for his nap so mom and dad put him in his room and closed the baby gate. He threw himself against the gate and cried for a pacifier. He was told he could have one if he said please. He said no. After an hour of crying and begging – but refusing to say please – he fell asleep without his pacifier.

How long can Jadon keep this up? Mom and Dad don’t know, but they are determined to stick to their game plan. They don’t want to break his spirit but rather his will and until he learns obedience and self-control they will continue to meet him head-on.