The Power of Touch
I’ve been very frustrated lately. Marschall does not listen to me. This probably does not come as a surprise to anyone. What three-year old boy really listens? Usually, he is either playing or watching TV when I am trying to get his attention. I start out with something like this….”Marschall, come get your shoes on. Marschall…. please come here; please come sit on my lap to put your shoes on. One…Two…. Three”. Supposedly, when I get to three he gets a spanking. I hate just spanking him in order to get him to do what I want him to.
I tried something new today. I went over and put my hand on his leg, he looked at me... then I asked him to come over and put on his shoes. Get this… he came! The funny thing is, I heard this technique in relation to getting husbands to respond to their wives.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
My, How Things Change…
I use to say that I wanted to be a stay at home mom with no kids. Yes, you read that right. I have never been into babysitting or children in general. I like children, don’t get me wrong. I’m just really not into playing games, etc. It all goes back to high school when I baby-sat for this family for a summer. They had three children, let’s just say, that were different. And that’s a nice way to put it. This will give you some idea of what I mean. They had a pool pass to our neighborhood pool for the whole summer. I got them out of the house 1 time to go to the pool. However, we did not make it to the pool that day or the rest of the summer. They didn’t want to walk so I called my friend to pick us up and drive us about a mile down the road to the pool. The youngest boy who was about 6 or 7 ran away from me screaming that he didn’t want to get in the car with strangers. As I am chasing him, I am yelling to him that if he didn’t want to walk this was our only option. Furthermore, she wasn’t a stranger she was my friend!
Trying to rationalize with him and praying that he would corporate, so I wouldn’t have to watch cartoons with them for the rest of the day. I chased him for a good 10 minutes trying to catch him. How a 6 year old ran faster than me? I’ll never know. I was spitting nails by the time I reached him.
Side note- I saw this boy about 3 years ago when he was about 18 and I still wanted to wail on his behind. That gives you some idea how bad it was. So with that insight, you can see why I really have never been into babysitting.
Flash-forward… I am baby-sitting today, haha. I am helping out a friend for a few days. But I have to tell you, it’s going well. I got all 3 children down for naps at the same time. So far, so good…I haven’t had to chase anyone around the neighborhood. Needless to say, Fourteen years later, I am very grateful that I am a stay at home mom WITH kids! And I will even baby-sit every now and again:)
I use to say that I wanted to be a stay at home mom with no kids. Yes, you read that right. I have never been into babysitting or children in general. I like children, don’t get me wrong. I’m just really not into playing games, etc. It all goes back to high school when I baby-sat for this family for a summer. They had three children, let’s just say, that were different. And that’s a nice way to put it. This will give you some idea of what I mean. They had a pool pass to our neighborhood pool for the whole summer. I got them out of the house 1 time to go to the pool. However, we did not make it to the pool that day or the rest of the summer. They didn’t want to walk so I called my friend to pick us up and drive us about a mile down the road to the pool. The youngest boy who was about 6 or 7 ran away from me screaming that he didn’t want to get in the car with strangers. As I am chasing him, I am yelling to him that if he didn’t want to walk this was our only option. Furthermore, she wasn’t a stranger she was my friend!
Trying to rationalize with him and praying that he would corporate, so I wouldn’t have to watch cartoons with them for the rest of the day. I chased him for a good 10 minutes trying to catch him. How a 6 year old ran faster than me? I’ll never know. I was spitting nails by the time I reached him.
Side note- I saw this boy about 3 years ago when he was about 18 and I still wanted to wail on his behind. That gives you some idea how bad it was. So with that insight, you can see why I really have never been into babysitting.
Flash-forward… I am baby-sitting today, haha. I am helping out a friend for a few days. But I have to tell you, it’s going well. I got all 3 children down for naps at the same time. So far, so good…I haven’t had to chase anyone around the neighborhood. Needless to say, Fourteen years later, I am very grateful that I am a stay at home mom WITH kids! And I will even baby-sit every now and again:)
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Expectations
I often remember the look my mom would give me when I needed to straighten up in public. So, here I am years later, giving my son that same look. I took both the boys for their monthly/yearly check-up at the doctor’s office. Brave, I know. Pete met me there so I would have “back-up”. I thought, having the doctor check him out would mesmerize Marschall. He’s all about playing pretend doctor at home. However, the child lost his mind there in that tiny office. Marschall was jumping up and down and ripping the white paper off the table and laughing hysterically. I wanted to wail on his behind but I refrained for the moment. I didn’t want the doctor to think badly of me or have social services come to our house. So he got the look from you know where and a very firm talking to. Meanwhile, the doctor went on to ask him several questions about what he eats and who his friends are. Basically, he tells her he loves hotdogs and juice. (I’m thinking great, “Way to go! Let the doctor know what good balanced meals you eat”). Why couldn’t he share that he’s really starting to like broccoli or that he tried zucchini for the first time and didn’t spit it out? But no, my child says he eats hotdogs and drinks juice. It kept going downhill…Marschall goes on talking for a little bit and the doctor ends up looking at me for a translation. I take pride in usually knowing a lot of what Marschall says or is trying to say and at that moment all I could do is shrug my shoulders.
It’s funny the expectations you have in your head as a parent. You just want your child to live up to them for whatever reason. No, you know what? It isn’t for whatever reason, it’s I wanted to be justified in showing that my child listens to me and acts appropriately, especially in public.
Should I lower my expectations? Nah, I just can’t be disappointed when he decides to show his fun personality! Yeah, that’s what I’ll call it, personality!
I often remember the look my mom would give me when I needed to straighten up in public. So, here I am years later, giving my son that same look. I took both the boys for their monthly/yearly check-up at the doctor’s office. Brave, I know. Pete met me there so I would have “back-up”. I thought, having the doctor check him out would mesmerize Marschall. He’s all about playing pretend doctor at home. However, the child lost his mind there in that tiny office. Marschall was jumping up and down and ripping the white paper off the table and laughing hysterically. I wanted to wail on his behind but I refrained for the moment. I didn’t want the doctor to think badly of me or have social services come to our house. So he got the look from you know where and a very firm talking to. Meanwhile, the doctor went on to ask him several questions about what he eats and who his friends are. Basically, he tells her he loves hotdogs and juice. (I’m thinking great, “Way to go! Let the doctor know what good balanced meals you eat”). Why couldn’t he share that he’s really starting to like broccoli or that he tried zucchini for the first time and didn’t spit it out? But no, my child says he eats hotdogs and drinks juice. It kept going downhill…Marschall goes on talking for a little bit and the doctor ends up looking at me for a translation. I take pride in usually knowing a lot of what Marschall says or is trying to say and at that moment all I could do is shrug my shoulders.
It’s funny the expectations you have in your head as a parent. You just want your child to live up to them for whatever reason. No, you know what? It isn’t for whatever reason, it’s I wanted to be justified in showing that my child listens to me and acts appropriately, especially in public.
Should I lower my expectations? Nah, I just can’t be disappointed when he decides to show his fun personality! Yeah, that’s what I’ll call it, personality!
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