This is how he is 90% of the time…
What do you do when your child doesn’t listen to you and your disciplinary words aren’t resonating with him? You pull out the paddle of correction. 
And by paddle, I mean my hand.
Yup, I spank my kid. Notice that I didn’t say beat because there is a difference.
It’s not out of anger or to leave marks, it’s to get my child’s attention in a way to which he will respond quickly when other measures fail. And for us, it works.
Anywho, as great of a kid my little Jayden is, there’s some things that 18-month old just won’t do:
- Back away from easily accessible electronics
- Pick up half-cheerios
Those are the two things he won’t budge on, and all the threats and spankings won’t change a thing. 
Teeny Techie
Jayden has a thing for all things electronics.
You can tell him to stop touching it five million times, but he’ll come back to it like a mosquito to a nightlight. Try spanking him, and he’ll cry, but slowly make his way back to the device as time passes. 
He’s basically hypnotized by anything with a screen and buttons. And don’t even get him started if it same make sounds too. 
To not stifle the fact that he could be a young engineer in the making, my husband and I relaxed our rules a bit to include limited electronics time. He’ll still cry when you take it away from him, and he’ll still try to get it back every time, but that’s just going to be a battle we continue to fight. 
But it wasn’t until this next incident that I realized how stubborn my little one can really be.
No Half-sies
Jayden is a pro at picking things up and throwing it away. We taught him that at a young age so that he knows to clean up after himself. 
At any given time in out home, you’ll hear, “Jayden, pick it up,” followed by the pitter-pattering of little feet rushing to grab whatever was dropped and running to the nearest trash can to drop it in. 
Except when the thing to pick up is a piece of a cheerio apparently.
When my sister was in town, Jayden was following her around (as he usually does) with a sandwich bag filled with Cheerios. He would occasionally spill a few on the floor, and I asked him to pick it up. 
Around the third time this happened, Jayden looked down at his cheerios and froze.
“Jayden, pick it up!”
::blank stare::
“Ummm… hello!? Get these right here.”
::picks up all but one::
“One more, Jay.”
::blank stare::
Instead of spanking him, I grabbed Jayden’s hand to help guide it down to pick up the last piece he left behind, and that was a huge no-no for him. 
He screamed, cried, wailed, and tried to pull away… all over a piece of cheerio.
I looked at my sister and said, “I have no clue what is up with him today. He doesn’t have issues picking them up any other time.”
At this time, my sister was cracking up. 
“What in the world are you laughing at?” I asked her.
“I think he doesn’t want to pick up any half pieces,” she said in between her giggles.
Half pieces? Geesh… I know my son can be picky, but this is ridic. 
I picked up the half piece myself and gave him a whole cheerio. Sure enough, he ate the whole one with no incident.
I guess I can’t fault my baby for having standards. 
What have I learned from all this? Pick your battles. Make sure you don’t spoil your kid (because you’re the parent), but don’t think everything needs to go your way (because life doesn’t work like that.) 
Trust me… I’m preaching to myself on this one. HA! 
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