This morning, Carter wanted pancakes with "whooped”
cream. I am not normally the parent to indulge my child in dessert topping for
breakfast, but it's Friday, it wasn’t a plate of it, and he was going to school
soon after where he more than burns off his energy.
So I agreed, but I told him he had to eat it at the table.
He likes to sit on the couch for his morning snack, but I’d very much like to
phase that out. In the new house, he can sit at the table and still see the tv
(our deal is that if he cooperates and is all ready to go, he can watch a show before
it’s time to go). He protested, and I braced for a tantrum. I explained that I
didn’t want food on the couch and that the new rule was that we were going to
eat at the table. (Followed by “Isn’t that so exciting?! Isn’t that a great
idea?!”)
Here’s where it got weird. He listened. He hopped down off
the couch and came over to the table. Mark it on the calendar, the morning of
September 21. The first time my son complied. Calm, rational, logic won him
over. I continued to praise him about 5 times.
This is really amusing because I am just about out of ideas
with his spirited defiance. These books are currently in my Amazon cart, while
I’m weighing which ones to buy:
Taming the Spirited
Child, You Can't Make Me, Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child,
Try and Make Me!: Simple Strategies That
Turn Off The Tantrums and Create Cooperation, Making Children Mind without Losing Yours, and Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles, among others.
I know this isn't that big of a deal. I shouldn't really be so surprised that my kid listened. But anyone who thinks that doesn't really know Carter. Oh, that child. His purpose in life is to test and grow me.
