Hello, I am back after the crazy long Winter break. So, hello to all and I hope your New Year is off to a rockin' start. :) We're all finally healthy and the house is {relatively} clean, so woo hoo. Anyway, in the new year and gradually through the end of 2012, I have been wondering if I am too hard on my 5-1/2yo son. Because this is such a broad topic, I would like to pick 3 scenarios in which my instinct naturally tells me "sure..." but, this little voice says, "ehhhh...?"
1. When my son wets the bed occasionally, I gently remind him that he should go to the bathroom and pee before bed, and then quickly move on to, "Let's get you some clean clothes! What are we going to to today...?" Etc. Yesterday, though, he woke up, turned on his bedroom light (I heard all this action from my bed - it was early), shuffled around for a bit, went into the living room and turned on cartoons. At this point I got up to say good morning and to get our day going. I asked him what did he have planned so early in the morning and he matter of factly told me that he had peed in the bed, so he got up and changed his clothes. Later on in the day, when it was time for us to start winding down, I gently asked him to please go take the dirty sheets off his bed (I forgot all about it!! :\) and put them in the dirty clothes basket, so that I could put baking soda on the mattress and add new linens. He did it with no backtalk and didn't seem to mind. Is this shaming?
2. Spills drive me crazy. I can't get control of how much they absolutely light me up, because they're mostly due to lack of care, which is a very important quality to develop in a child - being conscious and careful. I get mad at ME when I spill. It's a thing. I also make him clean up those spills. Is this too harsh?
3. If I am too tired to read a bedtme story, or if I have completely no turning back badly have overshot bedtime (rarely), I'll tell my son that we will have story time the next night. If he begs and pleads, I say "Good night, I love you," and close the door. The end. Does this feel bad to a 5-1/2yo?
Thank you for your personal stories, condolences and warm wishes!
Autumn M
Dallas, TX
I had a bed wetting problem as a child and it wasn't cause I was lazy, it was s real issue! My parents never made me feel bad or ashamed of it.
I wouldn't use the word harsh but you don't seem to explain yourself to the child when you've made up your mind, when you can't read fine but you could use words to coax and make the child understand mums tired. Communication is very important even with little kids
How do you deal with a potty mouth?!
- autumnmu
on Jan. 7, 2013 at 12:43 AM