the Corner

Jake reports that it is through practice that the less-than-two year old boy can and will stand in the corner until you tell him he can come back. I've seen him stand in the corner before, and I admired his obedience. It borders on comical the way Noah obeys Jake. He understands so much even when it seems like there's no way he was listening.

The other day, Noah was in the corner for some heinous crime like rock throwing, or something. He was really enjoying himself, laughing and jabbering on about stuff. Jake was on his way to the store and he told Noah he couldn't come out of the corner until he was crying. So Jake went out and Noah jabbered on. When he realized I was the one left in charge he used a lot of ammo to see if I would let him loose.

Recalling Jake's instructions about crying, Noah gave that a shot. But apparently he finds fake crying funny, so he couldn't pull it off before he'd start laughing again. Then he pulled out his repertoire of "I'm a nice boy. Let me out."

1. "huh?" to any word he heard anyone say
2. "please mom" because I can't help but answer
3. "bad bum" because it works in Nursery
4. "bye bye"
5. the Nelson, "ha ha!" - his favorite one, I think
6. "all done"

When I realized that Noah may be able to amuse himself in the corner for a longer time than a one year old should be in the corner, I told him he could come out if he would listen to me. He halfheartedly agreed and ran out the back door. Noah had a full 5 minutes of freedom until he slammed Abbi and went back to the corner. Looks like we've gotta think of something funner than the corner for trouble makers.

The boy, Noah, is now taking reservations to mentor other children. He wants all toddlers to learn how to accept, enjoy, and persevere while standing with his/her face in the corner.