Friday, February 16, 2007
It's All About Fun
I have to confess, when it comes to parenting, I'm a slow learner.
It took me a while to figure out that Mary Esther likes to make a game out of everything, from eating to bathing, getting dressed, watching TV, bedtime... When she refuses to do things or run away when I call her or parrots what I say--- she's playing a game! She likes to have fun. Can't really blame her or impose my will on her- believe me, I've tried and all I got are more gray hair and permanent creases on my forehead.
These last few days, I finally figured out- hey, why not make it a game that we both would enjoy???!!? First time it dawned on me was when I was getting Mary to take off her clothers and step into the shower. I was pulling at her shirt and she was keeping her arms down, making it extremely difficult for me to pull the shirt over her head. This time rather than get upset with her and threaten her with a lost privilege (no TV after the shower, etc...), I said, "Let's see how many pie
ces of clothing will we be taking off- 5? 10?" and She said, "No, two." And I replied, "Let's find out." And we counted out the clothes as she took them off. (It was three pieces.) So I was able to get her clothes off but now she would not get into the shower stall and was jumping up and down away from me. So I said, "hey let's see how many jumps you can do before you get into the shower." (For me, it sounded like such a lame game but she went for it.) She jumped about 20 times and went right into the shower. Of course, I was effusive with the praise--- "Hey 20 jumps! That was a lot! Great job!"
So, now everytime it seems like she is defying me or not doing what I want, I turn it to a game for both of us. Now we are both having fun.
It took me a while to figure out that Mary Esther likes to make a game out of everything, from eating to bathing, getting dressed, watching TV, bedtime... When she refuses to do things or run away when I call her or parrots what I say--- she's playing a game! She likes to have fun. Can't really blame her or impose my will on her- believe me, I've tried and all I got are more gray hair and permanent creases on my forehead.
These last few days, I finally figured out- hey, why not make it a game that we both would enjoy???!!? First time it dawned on me was when I was getting Mary to take off her clothers and step into the shower. I was pulling at her shirt and she was keeping her arms down, making it extremely difficult for me to pull the shirt over her head. This time rather than get upset with her and threaten her with a lost privilege (no TV after the shower, etc...), I said, "Let's see how many pie
ces of clothing will we be taking off- 5? 10?" and She said, "No, two." And I replied, "Let's find out." And we counted out the clothes as she took them off. (It was three pieces.) So I was able to get her clothes off but now she would not get into the shower stall and was jumping up and down away from me. So I said, "hey let's see how many jumps you can do before you get into the shower." (For me, it sounded like such a lame game but she went for it.) She jumped about 20 times and went right into the shower. Of course, I was effusive with the praise--- "Hey 20 jumps! That was a lot! Great job!"
So, now everytime it seems like she is defying me or not doing what I want, I turn it to a game for both of us. Now we are both having fun.
Labels: Parenting
