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Before I explain why I do not believe that time outs are an effective means of "discipline" in my house, I would like to brief you with our history with time outs.

In the beginning

"No!" Was that with one "n" and one "o", because I swear I heard three "n's" and maybe seven "o's". Yep, that was the longest most high pitched "no" I have ever heard!

This was a normal occurrence when my oldest child was two and a half years old. I was starting to wonder if I had given birth to a demon's daughter. We were forewarned about the terrible twos, but Kc gave the word terrible, a whole new meaning! We tried redirecting her attention, giving her a firm "No Kc, not allowed." We even tried "persuading" her to behave, with no effect. Some time later,

Nana (my mother-n-law), had seen what we were going through, and introduced us to the concept of time outs. "Sit her in a place by herself, for about one minute per year of age, and when she is done, have her tell you why she was put there. Then explain to her why the behavior is not excepted" she told us.

Months had passed, we tried holding Kc in a chair or corner, even tried setting her on the couch... All failed as Kc forcefully threw herself down, and back (giving me a heart attack each time, hoping that she didn't crack her head open), all while screaming intensely. Considering that we were always told it's not good to let your child cry or scream for long periods of time, we would "let her off the hook" within five minutes.

Our worst time out

One day, Kc kept playing with an electrical outlet, and what ever she did sparked her sisters interests. I had reached a point where I had enough of redirecting Mae, and trying to place Kc in a time out. Granted, there was a safety plug snug in place, nonetheless, a big "No- No!". So I put Mae in a different room with some toys, and placed Kc in her bedroom. When she began screaming this time, I decided that she needed to realize, that I wasn't allowing it to bother me anymore.

Twenty minutes later, I answered the door to a police officer. A neighbor had called concerned for the welfare of my children, as there was consistent screaming, and "today" it was excessive. So naturally, I offered him in, and explained. When I closed the front door, the officer was able to see Kc in the adjacent room.

He peered over the gate and asked her what was wrong, she quit screaming, and sat on her bed. The officer told me that there was nothing against putting my children in their rooms

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