Kids Who Like To Do It Themselves
August 29, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Filed under Parenting
One of my son’s last temper tantrums happened when he was outside and I was inside working on dinner. Just before walking out the door he said, “I’m going to make a hot tub,” and I said something like, “OK. Have fun.”
A few minutes passed and my son called out to me. “Mommy,” he said, “ where’s the shovel?” I said, “Why do you need a shovel?” He said, “I’m making a hot tub and I need a shovel to dig the hole where the water will go.” This got me out of the kitchen and I looked down on him from the deck. “What? You’re doing what?”
“A hot tub. I told you that a million times! I need a shovel. Please get me Daddy’s shovel.”
I said no, and that’s when he started to lose his cool, doing that wailing and whining thing and it was several minutes before I could sit him down and explain that hot tubs require a little more than a shovel to make. They require heavy equipment and, well, professionals who know what they’re doing. This didn’t sit well with him. He wanted to make it himself and though that hot tub tantrum was several months ago, my son still insists he will one day put a hot tub in our backyard.
Truman’s do-it-yourself attitude was the first thing I thought of when someone shared this funny New Zealand Do-It-Yourself video with me. Take look. It just may bring a smile to your face as well.
Video, YouTube, YepitsCharlie
Difference between you and me: my yard is already such a minefield that I don’t care if my son wants to dig a hole, as long as he puts it in a place where I’m not like to trip over it in the middle of the night when I’m outside with the dog.
No wonder Capra and Truman hit it off so well. She’s the same way. She doesn’t like coloring books, for instance, because she wants to do her own thing. Just give her a blank piece of paper and some crayons or markers or paints. She’s perfectly capable of coloring in the lines; she’d just prefer to do it herself. This morning, getting ready for school, trying to put on her belt. We’re running late, so I’m trying to help her with it — oh, no, can’t do that.
We actually try to encourage independent and self sufficience, but sometimes it can be trying!