Monday, September 8, 2008

No Shrieking.

About 6 months ago Tiger started shrieking.  Always short bursts, and he always stopped before you said, "NO!"  He knows shrieking is not allowed because he will often say, "No shrieking!" after he has been warned about it repeatedly.  Tiger was warned about shrieking in church, and that isn't really a problem, he doesn't do it outdoors, he doesn't do it in public places (like the store) his shrieking is confined to inside the house, or inside the car and mostly for no reason at all.  
Since Blanket isn't really into crawling, he is mastering voice and hand gestures.  If you repeat his "dada" noises and then repeat them with a very simple gesture he will attempt the gesture/voice combination.  I wasn't very concerned about this until I realized that he was imitating Tiger's shrieks.   He is so good, that telling him "NO!" is egging him on.  He has no qualms about shrieking in church, or at the store, or at the park, or anywhere.   The funniest, or most frustrating part is when Tiger says,, "No shrieking!" to Blanket.  He doesn't even realize that his bad behavior is what brought about the great shriekfest in the first place.
I am seeking input on punishing both of them.  Mostly I am looking to punish Tiger, I am sure if he stops the shrieking Blanket will forget that he learned how for a couple of years.  
So if you see me and Blanket is shrieking in church, please punish Tiger for me!

2 comments:

Jenny said...

I'd love to give you some advice, but unfortunately I just don't have any good advice to give. Some things are just hard to control. Over the years I've tried time outs, putting toys and such in "jail," revoking privileges, etc. How well those work has depended on age, situation, and personality. So, there's all the help I have to give. Sorry it's not much help.

Sox said...

All I really want to do is tape his mouth shut with packing tape, but I am not sure that this isn't going too far.