So we've been back almost a week and it feels like we never left. Elli changed so much during the two weeks we were away, so we've had to change our parenting style a little bit. We used to threaten that we would take away something that she enjoyed, such as dvd's or books at bedtime, but this is no longer a silver bullet.

On Friday night, Nee had Emma and Andrea over and I invited Ed over for pizza and a few drinks. Elli was being a bit of an attention seeker, and wasn't doing something we wanted her to. Nee threatened that she wouldn't get to read any books before bedtime, and for the first time Elli didn't care at all. She began to push her shopping trolley (a toy) around, through the loungeroom and kitchen in a big loop, while yelling "NO BOOKS! NO BOOKS! NO BOOKS!". None of us could contain our laughter, and I think that fueled her fire a bit more.

So we've now had to move onto a different kind of discipline. She no longer responds to smacking, so we've begun to put her into "time out". Last night was her first stint in "time out". I actually was just sick of her and wanted to put her to bed, but she cried continuously for about 15 mins and didn't show any signs of easing, so I got her out again and we discussed why she was in timeout, and things were all good.

This morning, the same thing happened. After breakfast Ellianah threw her bowl and spoon onto the floor, and refused to take them to the sink. We put her in timeout for 5 mins, and after that she told me what she needed to do ("put sink, put sink"), apologised for disobeying me and out she came! Oh, and she went straight back to the bowl, and after a little hesitation, put her bowl in the sink! Woot!

On a side note, I don't think we'll be getting back our camera, and travel insurance doesn't cover leaving it in the back of a taxi. So I'm on the lookout for a new camera. I have a few leads, so hopefully within a few weeks I'll have what I want.