Don’t Touch That!

A girlfriend and I were having a telephone conversation. She kept telling her 18-month old son to put things down, leave things alone. She was frustrated and asked me how I got my kids to leave stuff alone. “I tell them no.” “That’s not working,” she says. “Then I pop their hand.” “I’ve tried that and it’s not working,” she explains. I tell her that I haven’t had this problem; they have listened. Then it dawns on me… “Your son is adopted. You were not there to start these habits from the beginning. That’s different then my situation where my children learned the word ‘no’ from the beginning.” (Her son was adopted when he was between 6-12 months.)

What does she do? Be persistent and keep up the no and hand slapping? Any other tactics she could use?