oh yeah, i remember now.

i remembered my own miracle method for producing obedient children yesterday - bone-tiring consistency. any small small little infraction earns a repercussion. not anything ridiculous but something to fit the crime. i tend to forget about this because you go hyper-aware and hyper-consistent for a bit and then everything turns rosy and you don't really have to pay such close attention because your child has become an angel. and then very gradually, over several months, your child drifts back to that testing monster-y state where you just have no idea what to try next and really just want a nap. so about every six months or so i remember to be consistent again and it produces beautiful results, and quite quickly too. i did this yesterday and we were all much happier. although, there were still two biting incidents. when ellen was going to be she was telling me about things that she liked, and things she didn't. she told me that 'sometimes i really like biting. and sometimes i don't. but i sometimes i really like it." first i told her no, she didn't like it. and then i realized that was ridiculous to tell he what she liked or not and told her that no matter how much she liked it, she must never do it again. today we were bite free. i wonder if that has anything to do with having both dave and i here to keep her busy and supervised. most biting incidents happen when ellen and isaiah are playing nicely and i'm in the same room doing something else.