[Katigre]

Originally Posted by EskimoBoston

My son just turned 3 yesterday and this reminds me so much of something he'd do so I'm enjoying reading the replies too. I can relate to the feeling of not wanting to go back inside! That's usually my problem disciplining outside too I don't want to go back in or deal with the meltdown that would follow if I did take him in for doing something 'wrong'. So in this situation do you ignore any ensuing meltdown? When would it be okay to go back outside again? No garden stomping here but lately DS is obsessed with turning our water on which drives me crazy! He eventually is distracted but I'd say it takes a good 6 attempts (moving his hand, suggesting something else to play, and my yeah empty threats of going inside...) on my part. There are time he's allowed to have it like when we water the garden or fill up the pool but just pointlessly spraying water on the ground is not cool lol.

With a 3 year old I would probably just stay inside for 5ish minutes. The interrupting what you're doing to discipline is what is important b/c that helps build the habit for YOU as the parent of GOYB and doing what it takes to teach boundaries - it pays big, huge, gigantic dividends . I can't emphasize that enough. Being consistent in enforcing what you say means that in the future you'll be able to be outside with less issues.

Permissive parenting comes in when we're not willing to do what it takes to enforce the boundaries we set - if he's allowed to play with water then have at it . If he's not supposed to play with the hose and you've already set him up for success (rehearsed the rule beforehand, redirected him, etc...) then warn him that doing the hose means going in the house and do it. Tell him that you can come back out later if he's ready to listen about the hose (and later can be 5-10 minutes later - 3 yo's don't have a huge time concept ), so you're not fully losing outside time.