4 years

At 4 years old kids are a lot of fun. They have a pretty good vocabulary, can entertain themselves for quite awhile. They are somewhat independent and had me trained pretty good. Now I felt that I could relax somewhat. That is until they discover "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" I saw no real danger in it, it seemed harmless enough. I thought the turtles had pretty good values. I loved watching my son pretend to be Donatello. I could have watched him for hours until that fateful night. He got a little carried away and I got kicked in the shins and hit in the throat with a large stick while he is yelling, "Cowabunga Dude!" I realized I had just about enough of sacrificing for this child, I watched as my mental status slip into the dark abyss of mental instability.
Kids of this age also learn to be sneaky. I would find finger tracks in the peanut butter, kool whip, butter, and ice cream. When I did confront him I would be told the cat did it. How could I argue with that?
At this age they have whining down to a fine science and wouldn’t be happy till I was really angry. Once my son wanted a drink and wanted it now!!!!!!!! I was in the middle of a conversation and said I would get it in a minute. He wasn’t happy with that and screamed at me. So I got up, very controlled and proceeded to get him his water. When I returned I poured it on his head. He cried and I smiled and went back to my conversation. When I was done I got him his drink but by that time he had gotten his own…….right from the toilet. Again I wretched.
It was at this time that spankings became less effective and we had to find more meaningful ways of getting our point across. Ours was a cold shower with the clothes on. Now we didn’t make the kid stay in there till hypothermia set in. We didn’t need to, he knew within seconds that this was something he did not like. He hated it and therefore we knew we were on the right track. If given a choice between a spanking or cold shower, he would choose a spanking. Well, guess you know which one we would do. He may not have been happy but at least he was clean.
One of the most embarrassing things about child rearing is your child’s habits. My son being in his own Sunday school class would at times sing with his class in front of the whole congregation. Most parents looked forward to that moment, not me. I just knew that something would go wrong. Sure enough out of all the kids, mine would be the one standing in the front picking his nose, the only one.