I should have known better than to name him Malcolm... and he's in the middle!!!

Elizabeth - posted on 11/01/2009

My Sarah (07/09/04) is the middle child, and while she is my little princess and very mild mannered, she is the sneakiest little something! The other day, she asked for a cookie, and I said no. I keep the cookies on the counter within reach. 10 minutes later, my husband comes home from work, and I am in the laundry room. He sends Sarah in to me and tells me to frisk her....she had loaded her panties with cookies, and when he went to hug her, some had fallen out! That made me wonder how many times she had gotten over on me before, lol. I think she is like that because she IS the middle child, and she inevitably is the pleaser...sneaking what you want doesnt make anyone mad (if you dont get caught) if you think about the alternatives,,,,,tantrums, taking the cookie and running (lol) or convincing your little sibling to get it for you (then they may eat it) sneaking seems reasonable. Needless to say, the cookies are no longer in arms reach. She did get a time-out, and no cookie after dinner when everyone else ate theirs....

Tammy - posted on 10/14/2009

Terrible 2s, or Throttle Em 3s, as my mom calls it! That one stuck cause I definitly wanted to throttle him about once a day back then!
I don't know if I can help, but I sure do understand! I have a middle son, Keegan, (5) (means: little fiery one-and boy is he ever fiery!!!) He does stuff like this all of the time...the sneakyness is something I wasn't prepared for because my oldest doesn't do anything like that!! ... I don't know if it is the age, or if it is something to do with his chemical makeup, but mine is "Wonderful" at school & he goes to Kindergarden all day every day??? so why can't we have a little of that peace at home? we have actually been very consistent in our discipline, but have found that he doesn't stop doing the naughty stuff...he has only gotten sneakier!! so watch for that! Also watch for patterns, mine usually hides his "treasures" in his underware drawer or under his pillow.....so we always check under those..you would be Shocked at all of the things he has found that we thought were up high enough or hidden/locked up, knives, meds, ect...Keegan decided he liked the "strip" medicines last year & got into a locked cabinet & ate about 10 of the dang things!! Keep this in mind....you always have to look at worst case scenario when you are putting things away....because if he is anything like my guy, he can figure out a way to get to ANYTHING!! if he wants it bad enough!

Tarah - posted on 10/06/2009

I think that making sure he knows that there are consequences to his actions will help. Whether he stands in the corner, or has time out. Whatever your disciplinary actions are, they should be done consistantly everytime he does something he is not supposed to do. Also he should not be allowed to do things at home that he isn't anywhere else. That could confuse him and he might not understand why he is getting in trouble at one place and not the other.