Reply #196: i was gonna ask you if you've tried positive reinforcement when

[orleans]

he goes for a day without saying his poopy words?

or making a plan to go out for ice cream or the new little toy or a movie night together and he can pick out the movie etc.?

i remember hearing this psychologist speak about his technique where he would say "1...2...3...take five" and the kid would be banished from the kingdom for five minutes. his thought on this was that if the child wanted to be playing alone in their room they would be there already so the "take five" was indeed a punishment of sorts because it removed the kid from the chosen environment & what was happening in it.

maybe your son doesn't really "enjoy" sitting and thinking by himself but he keeps a stiff upper lip over the situation. and i would imagine repetitive time outs would get a bit old for any kid--i mean really, who the hell wants to go sit in a corner and not do anything for five minutes ten times in a day?

i also remember attending this s.t.e.p. class where they talked about letting a child learn through consequences (such as a kid forgetting to take their lunch to school or forgetting their gloves so their hands get cold). if you incorporated that into the 123 thing and explained that the consequence to using toilet talk when he's not in the bathroom is a time out then ... ? well, you know.

anyway, a couple suggestions.

i remember my dad swatting my butt when i was little for a stupid reason. he broke my heart when he did that. i loved my dad all my life, we got along great, we were the best of friends and he always stood by me. but i still think he was a real dick for doing that to his little girl (me) because it was so totally unnecessary.