Is it bad that she puts herself in time-out?

Number of waking hours spent with Zoey today: Roughly four.

Number of visits to the time-out chair: Four.

Sadly, hitting and throwing things have made a comeback in our household. (On Zoey's part. Not ours. We have no idea where she gets that from--really.) Back in June, our darling and delightful daughter went through a brief phase where she would randomly bitch-slap innocent, smaller children on the playground, leaving both her father and I horrified and explaining to the parents of said smaller children that we are NOT child abusers. Thankfully, after many, MANY visits to the time-out chair, she seemed to have learned her lesson. We breathed a sigh of relief and quietly chalked one up for our parenting prowess.

Yeah, I know. Funny.

Hitting is back with a vengeance, with an added hint of throwing things and generally acting pissy. This normally occurs when we can't figure out what she's trying to say--for instance, any word Zoey is not sure of is dubbed a "guh-buh". Well, sometimes "guh-buh" is easy to decipher, as in "Mama! Guh-buh!" (Pointing excitedly.) "Yes, Zoey. A spider." Other times, it's not so easy, and when she gets frustrated, she hits. Or kicks. Or throws something. (Whichever is most convenient for her, really.) But the thing is, she'll walk right over to the table, look at me with the biggest let's-see-what-I-can-get-away-with look, and smack the table. Or her book. Or her bowl of soup. (Again, she's an equal opportunity kind of gal.)

So, do you ignore that? Or put her in time-out?

Smacking somebody is a quick one-way ticket to the time-out chair. But hitting the desk? Shouldn't that just be ignored? Today I shot her a look for smacking the table leg, and she walked right over the to the time-out chair and hauled herself up. Does this indicate over-usage of the Time Out Technique? And if you don't do time-outs for discipline, what else is there? (Despite our child's bratty behavior, we don't believe in hitting or spanking.) (Except for that one time after a horrid day at work, when I just didn't have the energy to wage the Great Carseat Battle of 2008. In the midst of a back-arching, red-faced screaming temper tantrum--Zoey's, not mine--I reached over and thumped her on the forehead and yelled "YOU DO NOT HIT MOMMY!". Not my finest parenting moment.)

Luckily, I have the next three days off to spend at home giving my daughter all the Mommy time she needs. I am noticing, lately, a big surge in the I-need-Mommy-at-all-times attitude. I think this speaks directly to being in daycare, and largely lost in the shuffle for most of the day. (Granted, it's a great big fun chaotic shuffle most of the time, but still.)

Anyone want to wager a bet as to how many times she'll sit in the time-out chair tomorrow?