Two year olds!

Hey Dads,
As a father it is important to keep perspective on what is going on around me, sometimes it is pay special attention to my two year old in order to keep him from hurting himself, at other times it is deliberately ignoring certain behaviors simply because I know that he is exploring the world around him and that if I really were to punish him it would be me who was in the wrong. While this may sound strange to some people, it is a technique called Gentle Discipline, and so far I have found it to be very powerful in discourage unwanted behavior, let me give an example.
Yesterday I was in the kitchen and heard a pouring sound, coming into the dinning room I found my two year old pouring milk out of his small pitcher onto the carpet, I was very surprised and at first I wanted to punish him, and I said his name a little louder then I meant too. Instantly I say his eyes fill with tears and he started saying “No be in timeout!” as though this was the worst thing in the world. I instantly realized that he was simply exploring his world and that while I did not particularly like this behavior, if I punished him I would be inviting him to do this again later. So I simply reassured him that I was not angry with him, cleaned up the milk and we went about the rest of our day.
There was not big fight between parent and child over what he had done, we redirected his energy to pouring water in the sink, and that was the end of it. I know that this method is not for everyone, however I think that when parent and child work together towards what is best for all, then family harmony is simply going to occur.

A Fellow Father