Just when you think...

...you have it under control, it changes. That's the life of being a mommy. Allyssa had been doing so well for a whole week. The new game plan that I'd been working on was finally working. All was well. Then she started spitting. On her self. On the grass. In the sink. On the floor. It didn't matter where she was. First it was little piddly spitting. Like, I'm bored, so I'm going to spit. So I decided that since the reward chart for brushing her teeth worked so well (she used to throw a fit about brushing her teeth in the morning), that maybe a reward for not spitting would work. The first reward was a book from a McDonald's Happy Meal from over a year ago that I never gave to her. (Yup. I hide those books if I can to bring them out at opportune times. Usually the kids are so thrilled to be eating out that they don't even know that there is a prize involved. Well, that and someone has to tell them that there is a prize. Sadly, they figured it out about a month ago. :( ) Well, I was down to my last Happy Meal book, so the next day, I scrounged around to find anything at all to reward her with. Silly me thought that a piece of candy that was the same kind as one that she had earlier in the day left over from Trunk-or-Treat would work. And it kinda did. However, today when she got another piece of left over candy, she wasn't so impressed. She loved it. She ate it. This was after supper, only an hour and a half until she'd be sound asleep. Smooth sailing. Nope. She kept playing in the sink in the bathroom while I was changing David's diaper. I should have just let the whole thing go because who really cares about that much water anyways? Nope. From David's room I told her to turn off the water and go get her pajamas picked out. She did that, but then went back to the water. Now to be fair, I didn't tell her not to go back to the water. She probably thought that getting her pajamas out meant that she was done. She can't reach her underwear drawer and was already naked, so she couldn't undress or redress herself. I told her to turn off the water and go close her dresser drawer that she got her pajamas out of. She did that, but then went back to the water. I told her to turn it off again, and this time she told me no. I was really asking for that. Not really, but she was having fun doing something harmless, and I was the kill joy. However, telling mommy no is a big deal for us right now. Off to the corner. She told me no again. Extra minutes for saying no about going to the corner. While in the corner she was quiet like she's supposed to be. Then, I started hearing it. Spitting. I tried extra minutes, but she wasn't buying it. When the buzzer went off, there was a puddle on the floor and she was still spitting. I told her that if she likes to spit so much, I'd let her have a spitting drink. She thought that sounded great. Really, she did. I mixed up a little water and a yucky flavor and told her that the drink was yucky and that when she spit she'd get to drink it. She took a sip and spit it onto the floor. I told her that she had to swallow it. (It wasn't going to hurt her anyways. Just a little something from the spice cabinet.) She swallowed it and made a wonderful face. Then apologized and told me that she wouldn't spit again. I hope that she doesn't. We'll see how long yucky drinks last because just when you think you have it under control...