The Time-Out Couch -- Day 857

Since we live in a rather small place, we don't have many places to 'discipline' Anna. What we ended up using as our time-out/calm down place was our sectional couch. Sometimes it is also called the 'quiet couch'. By the way, it is also the jumping couch. We allow Anna to jump on our couch because we live above someone and Anna simply loves jumping on the floor above where her bed is. We know it isn't a good practice to promote, but we've had to compromise -- we let her ruin our couch, and we get better neighbor relations.

The idea of the time-out couch is now hardwired into the little toddler psyche. Just the other day I was playing play-do with her and asked her what she wanted me to make. Anna says, "A time-out couch." So I do it. Then she asks, "Now make Daddy giving Anna a time out." I do that too. Then I had to put her two Nya-Nyas on the couch. I'm left a bit baffled by this. Does this mean the time-outs are effective, or is the transformation of our disciplinary routine into a play-do reality just one step towards losing all effectiveness. I'm still not sure.

A few days ago, Anna also took our nativity scene Jesus and said, "Jesus needs a time out on the couch and he wants his Nya-Nya." Ok, maybe it is coming together a bit more. In one of my last posts I said that our nativity Jesus was a 'she', but it now appears that Anna is acting herself out through our nativity baby Jesus. It's not so much baby Jesus as it is miniature, olive-wood Anna.

I have been slowly figuring some other things out. For instance, people with glasses are now pirates. Before I thought it she applied this label more randomly. Anna will often point at a stranger and say, "He's a pirate." Now it appears that glasses are the feature that trigger this. The other day, this exact event happened on the train, but it also took on another dimension. Anna was just staring at the man (pirate) sitting across from me. Then she says, "Where'd his hair go?" Yes, the man was bald and Anna just kept asking rather loudly where his hair went. After about four minutes of this she stopped, but when our stop came, the man also got off. So there we stood waiting for the train door to open and Anna starts up again, "Where'd his hair go? [pause] Where'd his hair go?" When I got off the train I decided to put some distance between us and the main with no hair.

Anna is getting really excited for Christmas. This year it has hit her how important the idea of Christmas is -- well at least how important Christmas toys are. Toy catalogs have flowed in and every box now is somehow a present for her. We only have one present under our tree, but Anna today was hanging around it with her Nya-Nya and then I heard a rip. I looked over and Anna says, "Nya-Nya's opening his present." Good try. I had to do tape job and inform 'Nya-Nya' that he had to wait until next week.

Anna can also sings Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and some other carols. She also is fully aware the Santa knows what she is doing at all times. The other day she was coming down the stairs and says to me, "Santa knows when you go down the stairs." I'm sure he does. I have used the all-knowing-Santa concept as a disciplinary technique on a couple occasions, but I felt so bad after seeing the complete trauma it caused when she realized that Santa may exclude her if she didn't act well.

Well, I had better go. I don't have any new pictures so I will just put some more beach photos up. I did order a new camera so hopefully I will be getting better pictures in the near future. Of course, it will take me a little while to figure the new device out.