Connor is a busy, hectic bee! At some point within the last month, she went into the phase where she repeats every word she hears — from me, her dad, the TV, school.
Sometimes, it’s endearing, like when she’s discovering new words as well as phrases. (Yesterday we were bird watching, as well as she said, extremely matter-of-factly, “Let’s compose down all the observations in a notebook.”)
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Other times, it’s full-on shocking.
Que viens-tu de dire…?
So…in the Trader Joe’s auto parking great deal last Sunday, which regrettably is one of the locations I GO HAM since some motorists are additional nuts on the weekends, somebody rudely stole the auto parking area I was just about to pull into. Reflexively, I said, “Are you f*cking kidding me, lady?” which was complied with two seconds later by a sweet, high-pitched voice in the back seat that echoed, “Are you f*cking kidding me, lady?”
RUH ROH! Time to lock down the “colorful” language, Karen!
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Also, when Connor isn’t repeating whatever she hears, she’s stating N.O. to whatever else.
“Connor, will you please pick up your toys?”
“Non.”
“Babylove, let’s go upstairs as well as get prepared for bed!”
“Non.”
“Cocobaby, exactly how about we get into your cars and truck seat so we can drive you to camp?”
“NON!”
I’ve checked out that it’s a typical developmental thing around this age… young children are starting to feel independent as well as like having a sense of manage over the world around them.
Redirection: err day, all day
Because I don’t want to spend the whole day battling her or providing timeouts (Have you tried to reason with a toddler? It’s a fruitless endeavor.), when “no” happens, I do great deals as well as great deals as well as great deals of redirecting.
Like, if I say, “Connor, let’s go to the potty before we leave for ballet,” as well as she states “no,” I try different tantalizing methods to get her up the stairs, like, “Why don’t you show me exactly how you count your numbers? tell me lots of stairs it takes to get to the top!”
If she states “no” to that offer, then I may try, “How quick can you make it up the stairs? want to show mom exactly how quick you are?”
And if that likewise gets a “no,” I’ll opt for something like, “Can you walk up the stairs on your tippy toes? Can you show me exactly how to do it?”
Basically, come at it from different angles up until she states “yes” to one of them.
Then, when she’s up the stairs, I’ll utilize a similar technique to get her to the bathroom: “Want to hop like a bunny or a kangaroo to the bathroom? C’est ton choix!”
And when we finally, lastly make it to the toilet, things just keep rollin’ from there. “Oh regarde! We’re at the potty. Did you understand that mommy’s underpants are purple as well as have a bow? Do yours have a bow? Oh, yours are purple, too? CE EST TELLEMENT COOL! Listen, while we’re here, why don’t we have a seat on the potty? You don’t have to pee, however if you’re sitting there as well as you want to, go ideal ahead.”
Redirecting takes a great deal of patience as well as creativity, as well as tasks take 10 times longer than they would if she just did them, however gosh, it adds so much harmony to our day. Otherwise, whatever — I’m speaking whatever — is a large battle.
Anyway, it’s working for us…for now.
This is the simple stuff?
And I recognize that these things are most likely little potatoes compared to the difficulties ahead. I’m regularly reminding myself to take pleasure in this phase since it just gets harder from here.
Like, last week at her summertime school/camp, her preferred instructor as well as closest friend were both on vacation, so the very first thing she stated when I chosen her up was, “Mama, when I was at the playground today, I asked somebody to play with me as well as she stated no, so I played by myself, as well as that made me sad.”
I swear, my heart broke a little.
I didn’t understand now to respond (hello, very first time mommy here, as well as there’s no playbook). I took a few breaths as well as stated that playing by yourself can feel extremely lonely often as well as that I comprehended exactly how she felt. I stated it was so take on of her to ask somebody new to play since it takes a great deal of courage.
As we walked home, I pointed out that there’s always great deals of choices to still take pleasure in yourself at the playground if the very first person you asks states no. You can ask one more good friend to play, or making up a game to play by yourself, or pretend you’re playing with unicorns (which is my personal favorite).
She was like, “OK, mama.”
I wasn’t sure it sank in, however later that week she brought it up once again as well as said, “I understand I can go on the playground as well as ask a different good friend to play, as well as if they state no, I can always ask un autre ami, ainsi que s’ils déclarent non, je peux jouer par moi-même. ”
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Alors, oui, c’est ce qui se passe dans la vie de jeune enfant idéale maintenant. En bref, c’est généralement moi essayant de me coucher tous les jours tous les soirs sans laisser aucun type de cicatrices émotionnelles profondes!
Votre addict amical d’appel communautaire,
Karen