My ds is 15 months, and for a few weeks we have been finding him very strong willed. He has this 'thing' now of putting toys onto our wooden floor. We ask him to put them back onto the large rug that we generally play on, and sometimes he will, sometimes he won't. It all started because my dh is obsessed with not scratching the floor, but is now a matter of principal.
Anyway, tonight, as I was getting ready for my evening class, I heard ds wailing whilst playing with dh in the lounge. I went downstairs, and discovered that ds had deliberately put a toy onto the floor, grinned at dh, and crawled off, ignoring dh's instructions to move it back onto the rug. My dh said that it was obvious that ds knew what he was doing, and that he was testing him. The situation reached the point where dh would not let ds play with any of his toys until he moved the offending toy onto the rug! Ds was equally adamant that he wouldn't, and tried crying, offering dh kisses and cuddles etc etc.
My dh would not give in, and I had visions of them still being there when I returned! As it happened, the toy was still on the wooden floor, and dh had decided to give ds his bath without having any more playing before bed, so it was kind of a draw! Anyway, the point of this thread is to ask at what point you can reason with children. Ds obviously knew that he was doing something that he shouldn't be doing, and was testing my dh's reaction. However, should dh have ignored it rather than labouring the point? Ds can't talk, but can understand a lot, but I don't know if he is intelligent or old enough to understand this type of punishment for his actions.
Comments from experienced mums/dads would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to scar ds for life!