ARRGGGGGG!!!! SUPER ARRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!

WTF, yeah I did it, WTF, I want to really drop the F bomb, but I need to be patience and show restraint.

Why is it that my toddler always does the same thing he knows is wrong. I don't know how to get through to him, I don't know what punishment will work. Or should I say what discipline, or behavior modification needs to be applied?  I have tried speaking to him softly, I have tried time outs, I have snapped and yelled, I even, oh my gosh, spanked his diapered bum, and even tried to divert his attention, I have put his toys in time out, yep toys serve time out here. But nothing, nothing seems to work.

He really loves to put things in the dogs water. I mean any and everything, my cell phone was the worst, but it runs the gambit, from spoons, soft baby toys, to dog toys and oranges. I don't get it, he knows it is wrong, because he gets very quiet when he does it. He then makes his sad face when we find it, well at least sometimes he does, other times he is quite proud of himself. Like he did something great and awesome. 

Now, I am sure you know he does it for attention, like most of what he does at this age, and since his little brother has come on the scene.  To counter act this,  I have tried quietly removing the items and not making a fuss about it, but to no avail, he still does it, without any hesitation. He is a smart child, he knows it is wrong. I just want to understand it, why the fascination with the dogs water, why must he drop everything into it.

There are times he goes days with out touching it, other days he does it a dozen times, getting water all over the kitchen floor and soaking himself in the process.  It really has gotten to me, it is just a real pain. I would love to know how to deal with this. Sure I can google the issue.  I can read all sorts of books, but what suggestion are they going to give me that I haven't already tried?  The best part is how these experts all contradict each other, do it this way, no do it that way, never do this, always try this. Read one and you are a genius, read another and you are a big fat idiot, lucky that your children haven't been taken away by the state.

I think that every parent needs a book written for each specific child.  I am sure you know that even in families how you handle your children varies, you don't do the same punishment for everyone, because each child responds in their own way.  So I guess I need to find a way to write a book on each child, that would be of use to no one else but my husband and I. But one of these days I am sure I will have figured out a way to get him to stop, even if it is when he is a teenager and I have to enlist the help of his girlfriend.  We will by then be able to get him to realize that the dogs water is not in fact a toy and that it is a pretty gross thing to toss your food into, you little raccoon.