The Disciplinarian

Babies Simon's age like to chew on things. They put everything in their mouths. I think it's a survival technique. If they put everything in their mouth, eventually, something has to be edible.

(Is this post just a shameless excuse to show off my gorgeous kids?)

(Yup!)

Today, Simon was chewing on a board book: Zoe's Rainy Day. Not surprisingly, it is Zoe's book. Zoe saw Simon gumming her book, yanked it away from him and said sternly, "We don't suck on books, Simon!"

This is language that we have used with Zoe for a long time. It was pretty funny to hear her use it with Simon. But I also don't want her disciplining him; that's our job. With a little mimic around, it's hard to teach roles as to who does what. It sometimes seems unfair to her because we want her to mimic us in many ways: trying the different foods on her plate, using the potty, getting fully dressed in the morning, wearing a coat outside, using our manners and a polite tone... the list goes on. And yet, she is not to discipline Simon or tell other kids what to do.

Our stern disciplinarian ("Just wait until your sister gets home!")

We gave the book back to Simon and tried to explain why it was OK for Simon to suck on the book. I think I did a pretty pathetic job of that.

Our paediatrician recommended "disciplining" Simon, especially in front of Zoe, so that she knows that he can't do whatever he wants and get away with it because he's just a little baby that doesn't know any better. So we sternly tell him not to pull her hair when he grabs onto it and I am sure to tell him not to pinch me. So, maybe we should have enforced, "We don't suck on books" with Simon this time. I'm not sure.