Oh.my.goodness! I need help dealing with toddlers who are acting out. Mostly it's just Evie and I'm concerned that it's because she's maybe feeling like she's not getting enough attention. Maybe? I don't know. But the bad behavior has got to stop. Everything we've tried so far has failed. She just laughs any time she gets in trouble! Must I point out how frustrating that is? If we tell her not to do something, she does it anyways with a grin on her face. I've tried to incorporate more positive reinforcement but that doesn't seem to be working either. I've tried packing our days with activities thinking maybe she just needs to expend more energy, but that doesn't work (and sometimes has a negative effect). I've tried keeping our days free of activities thinking she's just been overstimulated but that doesn't work either. We've also tried earlier bedtimes thinking maybe she is over tired but, nope, that doesn't seem to be it.
It's also gotten to the point where she is instigating bad behavior in Lex. For example, let's say I tell them not to go down into the basement. Evie will sit there and tell Lex that he just has to go down there and get the ball she can see. He'll then do it and they both get into trouble (I punish her too if she talks him into doing something he shouldn't). He's gullible enough to do pretty much anything she tells him...and he's also starting to follow her lead when it comes to laughing off any punishment.
They both do things knowing full well that they're not supposed to be doing them. I know they understand right verses wrong, good verses bad behavior. Well, Evie more than Lex, but Lex does to a certain extent. Another example: we went to a birthday party this weekend and it was getting time to leave. Evie didn't want to leave and didn't want her -friend? teacher?- Stisha to leave either. So she declared that she had to go to the bathroom and wanted Stisha to take her. When she gets back from the bathroom, after an incredibly long time during which I mentioned she was just stalling us leaving, Stisha tells me that Evie told her that she was going to pee very slowly so that she wouldn't have to go home! Grrrrr! The kid is too smart for her own good and pushing all the wrong buttons with me and Shaun at the moment.
So, does anyone have any tips? Any magical tricks that can make this trying time easier? Better yet, how long will this phase last?!?
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