Time Out

Recently, my sweet little 14-month-old girl has started to hit. At times, she hits when a toy is taken away from her or when she doesn't want to go to sleep. Where did she learn this? My husband and I don't hit each other and I am blessed to stay at home with her, so she hasn't learned this at daycare. I was upset and began feeling I was doing something wrong.

That was UNTIL I began talking with other moms. Thank you to the moms who shared about the issues they encountered with their precious little ones, whether it had to do with hitting, biting, or both. The overall advice I received, put her in time out.

My husband and I weren't sure what that should look like for a 14-month old, so the next time she hit, we decided to put her in a "time out" chair in our living room for 1 minute.

Well, it took some adjustments. Little One figured out she could have a great time playing with the pillows on the chair, so we had to remove them. Without anything to play with, she sat there staring up at us with her big, beautiful brown eyes, and a slight smile that makes her look precious. I can tell she wonders why she is in the chair as she watches everything around her. The whole time, I am trying not to laugh.

Does she really understand completely what she has done wrong? Not completely. But, I believe she does know she has done something. She has learned to sign sorry, so after her minute is up, I ask her to say sorry. She signs it and smiles really big. I give her a hug, tell her I love her, and off she goes to play some more.

Disciplining my little one is not easy and it made me thankful that we get to choose to have time-out with God, free from discipline. Sure, sometimes God has to put us in time-out to get through to us, but we do get to come to him freely each day to hear Him tell us he loves us.

This kind of time-out is a retreat! It's a time where I can listen, learn, and seek God in our decisions each day. A time where I can journal, pour out my heart, and listen to worship music. With my busy schedule, having "time out" with God helps to prepare me for the day to come. There are days when this does not happen, are usually these days unravel (along with my attitude).

I want my heart, attitude, and words to reflect God's love, truth, and wisdom.

Proverbs 16:21 (NIV) says, "The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction".

Proverbs 16:23 (NIV), "The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction".

What has God taught me this week? If I want proper instruction in my life and if I want to teach my daughter the same, I need to seek God's wisdom in my heart during time-out with Him.

Until next week,