Yakkity Yak, Don't Talk Back

This is our new mantra. We visited a counselor this week to gain some insight on our beloved Luke's interesting and astonishing behavior. She was quite interesting herself and presented a few simple solutions. First, he needs 11 hours of sleep. I nearly laughed out loud. He gets about 9 most days and refuses to nap. Did I mention he usually gets up at 5 or 5:30 am on a regular basis? It's delightful. No one should have to parent a child at that hour of the day. But, we tucked him in at 7pm for two nights in a row. He was like a different kid the next day. I actually enjoyed being his mother again. Amazing!
The next recommendation was talk less and do more; no lectures, no warnings. This translates to taking action immediately when he behaves poorly. She said we were talking at him so much that he had probably just tuned us out. Since our consequences weren't very severe, he didn't really have a reason to modify his behavior. Hmmmm. Lazy parenting is a difficult habit to break. I'm trying, but I find myself falling back on the same old behaviors.
The last suggestion was a book called Raising a Spirited Child. I already owned it, but hadn't read it yet. I'll keep you posted on that one.
It feels so good to talk to someone outside of the situation. I feel as though a huge burden was lifted.