Summer does not begin officially for five more weeks, but it sure feels like summer around here with weather near 90 degrees and some new outdoor summer activities. We bought the kids some badminton sets (but no net), a sticky ball set, a tee ball set, and sidewalk chalk. (Thanks, Wal-Mart, for selling plastic from China at incredibly low prices!)
This photo is of a "
John McEnroe moment" in which Mary, frustrated by her inability to balance the shuttlecock on the racquet, threw them down in anger and stood there glaring at the uncooperative equipment.
If only those things would just do what she said, everything would be okay. Little Girl has a fiery temper and throws things down when she is angry, which has already resulted in a broken plate, a broken ceramic cup, a broken label maker . . .
This photo is of a "John McEnroe moment" in which Mary, frustrated by her inability to balance the shuttlecock on the racquet, threw them down in anger and stood there glaring at the uncooperative equipment. If only those things would just do what she said, everything would be okay. Little Girl has a fiery temper and throws things down when she is angry, which has already resulted in a broken plate, a broken ceramic cup, a broken label maker . . .
At age one John still hated standing in grass and at age two he would not yet have been willing to run through a sprinkler, but now at three he has fun doing both! He still shows quirky sensory dislikes, such as how he outright freaked out the other day when he successfully cracked an egg and got some on his hand, and how he cheerfully transferred wet beer bottles from a cooler to a refrigerator but adamantly refused to touch the wet soda cans because they were "slippery."
I like little Mary. She reminds me of my Agnes. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for representing the ministries to moms at the parish stewardship fair this weekend, Katherine! I pray the Holy Spirit uses your witness to touch lives. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, Teresa throws things down in anger a lot, too. Most of the time we make her pick the food/item up and put it in our hand, which she does. But still she throws, sometimes looking me straight in the eyes, spiting my "no!" How do you handle this behavior with Mary? It's not a big deal for her to throw down a toy, but when she broke the dishes...what did you do?
Oh, and does chalk come off of decking with just a spray of the hose or do you have to brush it off somehow? We might try that...do you think it's different on unpainted wood?
Frances: Thanks! I plan to post about the ministries later.
ReplyDeleteRe: Mary, I haven't begun anything formal as discipline because I'm not ready to "back it up." So if I command her to pick up the item and hand it to me, I have to be ready to force her if she chooses to disobey. And I am not ready to put her in time-out or spank her yet, so I'm very hesitant to command. I think the worst thing to do would be command and not back it up because then she knows that my word means nothing.
I do tell her "no, ma'am! we don't throw XYZ!" Sometimes I sit her on her bottom (a super mini "time out"), which makes her cry.
I have just begun if-then statements. "Mary, if you throw that toy, I'm putting it into time-out." Then she throws it, so I put the toy up on a shelf.
Re: the deck, we thought that rain would wash off the chalk from the deck, the way it washes off the driveway, which is why we let the kids draw chalk there. But it just rained and the chalk is still there! So I'm going to try spraying with the hose. But if it doesn't come off very easily, then they will be limited to drawing on the driveway.