It's working! It's working!

Last week, when we went to behavioral therapy, I brought my logs of each day like the one I just posted. I wanted to document the behaviors, the consequences, and the reward strips. I wanted them to see the frequency as well. The therapists gave us some homework to do this week, they wanted to see whether it was them seeking attention or just being defiant or if it was both. They told us to set the standards for the behavior we expected from them before appts or whatever and then when the kids starting acting out, they told us to ignore the bad behaviors unless it was something that had to be dealt with right then and there. They wanted us to start praising the kids that were doing what we asked of them and to ignore the bad behaviors and see what happened. Little E has picked it up right away and will correct the behavior right away to get her praises. Baby T, threw a fit in the car on Wednesday and literally threw a fit for 45 minutes. Every couple of minutes I would say "thank you, Little E, for sitting so quietly and nicely in the car and not yelling at Mommy." I was trying to give Baby T verbal cues as to waht I wanted from her without giving her direct attention. Once she quieted down for a minute, I gave her the praise that she was seeking. It was kind of funny because in regards to my thank you for settling down adn sitting quietly, I got "no, thank you!" She hates it when I can't praise her, but she's still continuing to throw her fits, but I notice that they're not lasting near as long as the days go by that we've started doing this. Today, it's only been a matter of a couple of minutes and she's done. She wants her praises more. Josiah does really well with it some days and other days it irritates him and he acts out more and more. He's been spending a lot of time in his room today as he just can't get it together and I refuse to listen to him scream and carry on and start throwing things and whatnot as he hurts my ears, so I've been putting him in his room. It's been hard, but I definitely see improvement and I will keep carrying on. It's hard to deal with all the temper tantrums somedays, but I just have to prepare myself mentally before they start. But their behaviors are improving and that makes this Mommy happy.