Alexander's Independence and Temper

Alexander is perfectly happy to wander off without us as long as it's on his terms. If we call him, he ignores us. If one of us walks away and he wants us there, though, watch out! At night, if I take him to bed and he knows AC is in the house, he'll scream bloody murder unless I threaten to put him in his crib. And even then, he'll ignore me until I physically carry him to the crib, stand him in it, and explain that his options are to sleep in the crib or to quietly go to sleep in the bed. THEN he'll go quietly to the bed and go right to sleep. We will have no slack with him at all. Note to self that we really need to be careful to use threats and removals of privilege ONLY if we're willing to follow through (yes, I know that's *always* true, but it can be extremely tempting to consider a threat that stands a good chance of working, even if you're not willing to follow through).