My brother and sister-in-law gave my daughter this adorable interactive chair for her first birthday. My brother and I promptly named the chair Ethel, which is what Jack Black’s character in Saving Silverman calls his easy chair. “Ol’ Ethel and I, we’ve been through a lot of games together.” Bear with me; we love that movie.
(Image from fisher-price.com)
It’s great and she loves it. Best of all, it also features an “off” button when you can’t bear to hear the hit single “Froggy Goes Splish Splash” once more.
However, this is often how my girl chooses to use the chair.
Yes, that’s one foot on the chair, one foot in the air, one hand on the armrest of the couch, and one hand on her bottle. This leads to us repeating in a firm tone that “chairs are for sitting, not for standing.” The other night it also lead to my husband banishing Ethel to the hall closet for two hours. It is a challenge to effectively discipline a one-year-old. She doesn’t comprehend that standing on Ethel is dangerous, and it is so, so difficult to keep a straight face when she stands on the chair and waves and smiles at us.
What toddler-disciplining challenges have you faced? Do you have any advice on what works and what doesn’t?
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 