No More Toys and Archie’s Temper Tantrums
Tonight after throwing Jackson’s toy for hours and listening to him whine, I finally had to say, “No more toys, Boy.” No more toys is almost as heartbreaking to him as “That was a bad, bad Boy.” His poor sad face… Meanwhile Archie was feeling neglected and doing what he does when he feels this way, knocking objects off the kitchen counter. Tonight, that object was a water pitcher, and yes, he broke it. Archie wants attention all the time, however, that attention must be received by you coming to him, and definitely not the other way around. The way he’s discovered he can draw attention to himself is by (in order of escalating desperation):
- Crying.
- Knocking things over.
- Knocking things over and then off the counter.
- And as a last resort–beating up Baby Titten.
We only reached Stage 3 tonight. Then he started mingering around, waiting for me to pick him up. Its possible that this tactic has worked in the past, thereby reinforcing the behavior. And now, Jack is setting toys on the ottoman and giving me the Border collie eye as though by simply staring he can teleport the toy into my hand and make me throw it. If only life were that simple, objects would never be broken, toys would not accumulate on my lap, and Cheyenne would never paw at my face.