Laughing it off

One of the hardest parts of disciplining for me is walking the line between enforcing the rules and bending them when needed. The thing about Colin is that he is such a sweet soul that I have a hard time being hard on him. Even when he is being deliberately naughty, I can see what is driving it and honestly feel bad for him. Especially when I can tell that he is only acting out because Owen's new crawling and pulling up skills are leaving Colin essentially being GRILLED all day long.

Poor Colin has a hard time doing his puzzles because Owen crawls right into the middle of them and tries to eat the pieces. If I move Owen away, he just crawls back AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN until Colin gives up and moves away to try something else. Yesterday, Colin's last respite from Owen was breached when Owen pulled up on the train table and began systematically mouthing all of Colin's precious animals.

At the same time Colin has been a good sport about all of this. He does have his meltdowns, but on the whole he's chosen to laugh about Owen's new skills. Even when all his favorite things are being drooled on and tossed and slapped around.

So sometimes, when he breaks a big rule (like the below pictures), I just kind of have to laugh it off like Colin does. Because we're all adjusting right now and sometimes it's easier just to laugh.