Sofi does like to whine. Conventional wisdom is that we're reinforcing the whining by giving in to it - I personally don't believe we do, we're usually pretty consistent about pointing out whining, ignoring it or saying "ask in a nice way." But if we ask a doctor or teacher what to do, they tell us, "You must not be consistent." I have a couple friends who have troubles with whiny daughters also, who also try the standard treatment and also have little success. I wonder - is the wisdom correct? Maybe whining is natural as wind or rain, not a habit that we're encouraging. Maybe whining is a symptom of another problem. I don't know. I just wonder.
Time outs are wonderful. No spanking necessary. And here I'm really playing devil's advocate, I don't actually believe this, but it does occur to me, seeing Sofi *so* mortified by time outs, that maybe they're a kind of torture even worse than corporal punishment: a twisted psychological torture of some kind. Just musing aloud, there.
