Attitude Adjustment

     See that sweet face? Well, while we love him dearly he has been going through the "unfortunate fours." Aiden didn't really go through the terrible twos so I was hoping we would just slide right into a happy preschool stage. We slid into it all right, kicking and screaming!
     It seemed like every day was a battle and I fear a call from his teacher. That call usually meant I was headed to pre-k to pick him up. In class he would completely melt down and then start destroying the room or start hitting other students because he didn't like what they were doing or saying.  At home he had moments of listening and helpfulness but we were spending most of our time yelling at him and making threats. I was exhausted and had no idea what to do with this child who wasn't my sweet Aiden all the time.

We don't normally take pictures but he was being so dramatic and when we started taking the pictures he started laughing.

     I tried everything I could think of...reward chart, time out, spanking, yelling, locking him in his room, crying (me not him), putting toys in garbage bags. Aiden starting calling me "boring mommy" and wanted to know if that was who was going to be at home with him after school. I started to feel hopeless and like I was letting my son down and myself. I didn't know what to do and Aiden seemed to be getting worse. I talked to my mom, other mommy friends, read countless blogs then finally I turned to the expert, Nanny Jo. That's right I ordered this book. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime, because it was in my hands in 2 days.
     I devoured that book, then Jesse and I came up with a game plan. Our biggest issue was our trying to reward Aiden for behavior when he should be good no matter what. Aiden was also getting the best of us at times when it came to negative behavior, he knows your buttons and exactly how to push them. Now I simply walk away or send him to his room, he is not happy with that response so his behavior is usually quick to change. We also weren't praising Aiden enough for the small things, like being patient, helping Felicity, using his manners. It's easy to give him negative feedback all the time but he needs the good too.
     Today, that boy is doing great and his mom and dad are improving daily! We are 3 weeks into Nanny Jo"ing" it and we have had all good days at school and our behavior at home has had a complete turn around!!!

Mommy Friends: How did you handle bad behavior? Are your kids going through the same thing?