How Do We Look?

I was reading a book to Miles tonight and noticed that we made a fine pair. Let me explain. First, this is pretty typical for me so no explanation needed there. Miles, on the other hand always (ok almost always) matches.

After his bath, we dressed him in his short sleeved dinosaur pjs and his blue slippers to keep his toes warm. Later, I decided that he should probably have long sleeves on to sleep in.

I was changing his diaper and his pjs when chaos ensued. Miles has become quite a handful lately. In my opinion, he's still very good but he is throwing more fits and becoming more defiant. I've mentioned before that Darrin & I agreed to not spank Miles. I wanted to try other methods of discipline first. I'm backing up a little bit on this. The problem is, at this age, I can't figure out how to get his attention....so, I've started yelling. How can that be better? We've always had a calm and peaceful house and now I'm screaming all the time.....and it doesn't even work.

So, I was changing his diaper and he was trying to hit me and climb off the table so I spanked his leg. He instantly became still and his bottom lip pouted out....then came the tears. Instead of trying to change his pants, I was content that he had on long sleeves and long pants. I put him down from the changing table and he stood at my leg and cried. After a sufficient amount of time had passed, we hugged and I carried him to the couch to read a book.

I've been thinking about this for a few days, so this wasn't a spur of the moment decision. I still don't envision us spanking our kids with a belt when they're five, but this might have to be the plan for now.