Success

In all seriousness, I'm not sure what exactly I did but Ian slept through the night last night. Really. I gave him his regular dream feed at midnight and was upset that he didn't eat from both breasts, only one. I thought for sure he would be getting up around 3AM or so because he'd be starving. I heard him stir around 3:30 but I didn't get out of bed to go see him, figuring he'd be crying in a short time anyway. Then I heard him actually cry closer to 6AM and got out of bed with the intention of feeding him but his eyes weren't even open. I wasn't in the mood for another half feeding so I gave him his Suckie and snuggled him back up with his blanket and didn't hear from him again. I woke up in a panic at 8:34AM from the landscapers outside and almost didn't want to go check the crib; I thought for sure something terrible had happened. When I finally got up the nerve I tiptoed to his crib and found Ian fast asleep still with the Suckie in his mouth. And he was quietly snoring! Shaun was all stretched out in his bed too, like a starfish.

I crawled back into bed in disbelief that I was able to sleep so long! If this was a fluke I'm going to be seriously upset. What a mean trick to play on a fatigued mother!

In other news: Craig and I pow-wowed the other night about Shaun's behaviour. Up until recently, time outs and spankings (I can only count on one hand the number of times we've actually had to spank him) have worked to get Shaun back in line. Well, the saucy little man pushed me to the limit last week when Lisa, my sister-in-law, came to visit with her boys. He actually shot me! It was an imaginary gun that he created out of Lego but he's not allowed to play guns. When I told him that he told me "NO" and then when I said he was done playing with Lego since he was being saucy, he shot me. He pointed that little stick right at me and said "Pew". If I was in a better mood that night I probably would have gotten all dramatic and died right in front of him and then reminded him that guns hurt people so the Lego had to be used differently, but he had been testing me all day.

When Craig got home I shared the days' happenings and we thought we'd try a new line of discipline: grounding. The next morning after breakfast we had a family meeting and Craig and I explained the whole thing to Shaun - what grounding meant, when he would be grounded, and what he would be grounded from. That evening, Shaun got grounded. Again for being saucy (notice a trend?). He was grounded from TV for the whole next day. It was Saturday too so a long day for him to have to go without Bugs Bunny and Tweety and Super Why. His grounding included his Toopy and Binoo movie from the library too. He wasn't too happy about that. But he was able to keep himself busy and happy with his trucks and puzzles and didn't ask for TV once after we each reminded him that he was grounded for the previous evenings shenanigans. Since then he's been using his manners more and when Craig or I tell him to do something, he answers "Yes Mum" or "Yes Dad". Damn right you better answer with Yes!

No wonder my mum and dad grounded me so much when I was a kid. It sure does work!