There are few things more frustrating than a toddler who has decided to be bad. In this case, it was C. We have been trying to teach him "table manners" – no yelling at the table, be quiet when other people are talking, no feet on the table, and so on.<\/p>\n
A week or so ago, he decided to be Bad. During dinner he was yelling. Not yelling words, just yelling. "Ahhh!", "GrrrOUR!", and that sort of thing. J was doing her best to get him to stop.<\/p>\n
J and I have an agreement: when one of us is taking care of a situation, the other does not interfere (unless it’s requested). In this case, she was having a tough time. With her hurt foot, she couldn’t get out of her chair very easily. C knew this and was pushing the envelope as far as he could. For example, whenever N would make a sound, C would go back to his worldless yelling. As soon as J spoke to him, he’d stop. It’s worth noting here that there are no fire alarms <\/a>within view of the kitchen table.<\/p>\n J was doing the best she could, but it was driving me crazy. Finally, in the middle of one of C’s bouts of yelling, I slammed my open hand down on the table. The theory was that the sudden noise would shock C back into being reasonable. The fact was that I was frustrated, annoyed, and tired.<\/p>\n My hand hit the table so hard it knocked over the salt and pepper, made everyone jump, and shot little tingles of pain all the way up to my shoulder.<\/p>\n C stopped yelling. J looked shocked. N laughed and waved his arms. I love N.<\/p>\n I looked at C. He was clearly scared, but instead of being cowed, he chose the angry route. Before I could say anything, he pointed his finger at me and shouted. "No! No banging on the table!" I was stunned into silence, and he continued.<\/p>\n "No banging at C! You have to be nice to C! You have to be gentle. Understand? Do you understand?"<\/p>\n I looked over at J, but she was firmly and clearly on his side. Gathering myself, I mustered a defense, "Listen, I banged because I had to get your attention. You were shouting and we have to use table – "<\/p>\n