Allison (one of those "natural moms") and Hugh

I tried to reason with him. There was no box and no way to get a box at that moment so he’d just have to deal with it. But the wails kept coming. “I want a box.” (What he needed was a nap!) And he rolled onto the floor and his limbs flailed around beside him as he wept and moaned. So I tried tactic No. 2. I ignored him.

But the wails kept coming, like a ghost haunting my house. His moans echoed through ever room in my house as he lay there on the floor with wet cheeks and red eyes. “I want a box!” Try as I might I just couldn’t tune him out.

And suddenly, it became comical to me as I glanced over to the spot on the floor my son occupied. His feet were in the air now and he was peddling them as if he were on an invisible bike, and still whining about that box. I laid down next to him and began peddling and moaning and Truman stared at me in awe. And then the most amazing thing happened. He broke out in laughter. We laid there on the floor and bah-hawed for a good five minutes. And for the rest of the day he was fine.

If you had to give my parenting style a name, it would be the Trial-and-Error Technique. I had no previous experience supervising kids before Truman entered my life. I didn’t baby-sit and I wasn’t a big fan of babies. (I became a huge fan of my own son, though.) There are some mothers who are born to be mothers and then they top off that natural ability with a graduate degree in Early Childhood Education. So I was comforted when, a day after my son’s meltdown over the box, my father’s wife Anni sent me a link to a post “Tutoring the ‘Behavior Problem,’” written by her son’s wife Allison (one of those natural mothers with an early childhood ed degree) for the Bank Street College Alumni Association. It’s reassuring to know that sometimes we all must do strange acts of goofiness to connect to kids.

(photo, The “Little Warren” Files)

Post from: Blisstree

Connecting with Kids Requires Humor

I can’t really understand why kids need a whole new wardrobe for school. I mean, kids get clothes all year long these days right? It’s not like in my Grandma’s day when she saved up enough to buy her children two pairs of shoes a year, for school and Easter Sunday.

I went garage sailing and picked up about all she’ll need for about $12. I’m not about to blow a couple of hundred dollars for this consumerist tradition. I picked up a black  pair and brown pair of nearly-new Mary Janes and some super cute Sketchers for $2.50. The rest was spent on new-looking matching outfits, dresses, tops and jeans in her size.

If I have the cash on hand I may take her to Old Navy and let her pick one outfit for the first day.

To read about how I really did take all her clothes away after repeated clothing tanatrums and fits of hysteria, you can check out Kindergarten Fashion Show on Sioux So Me. Yes, I did. It worked, and I’ll do it again if she loses her grip on reality about how important her clothes are. I got the advice from Madonna of all places.

Post from: Blisstree

Debt-Free School Clothes