Progress on one front, frustration on another

Well the problem of my daughter going to bed too late is getting better. She is now waking up earlier and going to bed earlier. Not as early as I would like, but I will certainly take 10:00 p.m. over 12 midnight or 1:00 in the morning. At least progress is being made on that front.

On another front, I have been dealing lately with the frustration of my daughter not listening to me. It has been so bad at times that I have wondered if her hearing was okay. But it soon becomes apparent that it is not her hearing that is the problem, but stubbornness. The other day at the mall, she ran out of the play area. I called after her, but she ignored me and kept running. I started counting, "One.... two...." and told her that if I got to three, I'd be putting her in the stroller and making her stay there for a time out. She immediately stopped, turned around, and came running back, whining, "No stroller! No stroller!"

Just yesterday, however, we were at a cookout and she was playing with some other kids in a sprinkler, and even though I was only a few feet away, my calls to her were completely ignored. She would look at me for a second, then go right back to playing. At one point she took off running towards a nearby road. My husband and I both called after her (and my husband ran to get her) and she ignored both of us. A little boy only a few months her senior even realized she was running in the wrong direction, so he took off running and caught up to her before my husband did, grabbed her by the arm, and brought her back.

Then there was the other day when she would not listen to me when I told her not to pull the shower curtain back while I was in the shower, allowing the water to spray out onto the floor. I had to get very stern to get her to listen, and then it would only last a couple of minutes before she was coming back for more.

And so I ponder... and think... and ponder some more, what methods to try to improve her listening skills. Meanwhile, I will try very hard not to pull all my hair out.