do I have to go back in the corner?

Yes, we make her stand in the corner.... 'nose in the corner' is what we call it. She has been standing in the same corner since she was 18 months old. Yes, that young. We learned very quickly that 'time out' was not punishment enough for this little one, but nose in the corner is more effective. I wouldn't say completely effective as she still goes there... often, but she dreads it and it is a great threat. She tries everything to get out... wailing, screaming, 'i need to go potty!', it hurts my cheeks, it is dark in here (if the light is off in the dining room) and I am scared... the list goes on and on. The part that kills me about it is that I hate it as much as she does. I feel terrible every time and I just want to shake her and say please don't do that because I really don't want to put you in the corner. But, it doesn't stop her and she pleads with me every time. Today, she almost moved from corner punishment to spanking punishment. I know that somewhere down the road we will laugh at what happened tonight, but mostly it is terrifying. There are 4 little girls in our cul de sac that are around Ava's age, but she is at the younger end of the age spectrum. At 8 o'clock tonight, they were all chasing each other from backyard to backyard as they usually do while I was sitting on the front porch working on homework and Greg was working on his truck. The three girls she had been following came to the front yard, and I leaned forward to see where Ava was, but she didn't seem to be with them anymore. Seconds from me yelling to Paige to ask her where she went, my daughter came running from Paige's backyard... in her underwear... soaking wet. I sat stunned as I watched her run towards me grinning.

'What are you doing? Where are your clothes? Why are you wet?'

The questions came flying out of Greg and I as she looked at us stunned to see how angry we both were.

'Get inside!' Greg yelled sternly, 'get in the corner and where are your clothes?'

After much wailing in the corner, she explained that she had jumped in to Paige's swimming pool... in her clothes.... and when they got wet, she decided to take them off. Mind you... none of the other kids jumped in the pool... my daughter... by herself... no adults around. I still find myself wondering what in the world she was thinking. She wasn't... clearly!

I am responsible for this little person, who is clearly afraid of nothing and doesn't care at all what the other kids are doing, because she will do what she wants to do. In most cases, I would be proud of her for doing her own thing, but this time I am just a little bit speechless. I believe I have posted this statement in many other posts, but I will say it again... we are in so much trouble!

On a totally different note... I will be induced on Tuesday, July 7th. Let us all say a little prayer for the baby boy I will have who, God willing, will be quiet, calm, peaceful and serene in every way.