OK,
I'll fess up early in this post. I don't have any kids yet my husband and I are working on that; but that's a whole different list of concerns. But here is what lead to my concern.
The other day I was babysitting my cousin's son. And like all 2.5 year olds he had a way of getting into the thngs he shouldn't. And like most 2.5 year old he responded to "Devin...I'm going to count to three....1...2..." and by 2 he was straight on the behavior. I've babysat all my life, worked in Preschools and kindergartens and this method was always wide spread and effective. But when my husband heard me doing it, he got kind of edgy and annoyed and later told me that that "counting technique" as he called it was like nails on a chalk board to him. He conceded that it works, but says that he can't stand it for whatever reason. And won't use it.
So my question to you all is: Does anyone know of a similar behavior management tool that will allow the child to stop and refocus the way the "1...2...3..." does. So I can have a game plan when I am fortunate enough to have a child. I know I won't be having to use something like that until the child is older, so I'm looking way down the road. But him saying that it bothered him threw me for a loop and I'm not sure of another way to go about getting the same result.
Thanks for any ideas,
I've used the "1, 2, 3" method with mixed results. I've heard several moms and Supernanny's show seems to back this up, saying that "1, 2, 3" isn't effective and instead you should just meet undesirable behavior with a time out. You tell your child to stop the behavior once, and if they don't listen, then you take them to a designated space for time out, and you get on their level and tell them precisely why they're having a time out. Then you make them sit there for a predestined amount of time (Supernanny recommends 1 minute per year of age). If they get up from the spot, you take them back and sit them back down without a word (this is very important). Once they don't get up the time starts. This has been very effective with my daughter and now when she's doing something I don't want her to do I say "If you do that again you will have to have a timeout". 9 times out of 10, this works, and it's as effective, if not moreso, than 1, 2, 3. Good luck!