Too Much Moose and Other Parenting Sillies
Too Much Moose
My son Coren tends to yell “aaaaauuugh” when he’s upset about something. It used to frustrate me - but nothing I did changed the way he expressed himself. One day he was getting overly frustrated with something, but wouldn't stop. I found myself getting overly annoyed with the sounds emanating from his mouth, so I figured, if you can’t beat ‘em, join 'em. I made the noise with him. My first attempt at mimicking the noise failed miserably, and I admitted so out loud. “That was no good. How DO you make that noise so wonderfully? Let me try again ….. No, that wasn’t right… I need more oomph in the middle part there … OK…can you help me out here? Can you make that noise twice and then be quiet for a sec so I can hear myself make the noise and figure out where I’m going wrong? Maybe you could give me some pointers. ….. Is that better? No? Too much moose, you think?" by which time he found himself giggling uncontrollably and I had to remind him that he was frustrated and was supposed to be making that fabulous noise, not giggling….which made the giggling worse.
Ah, the importance of a sense of humor and just plain silliness when parenting.
Alia and the Irresponsible Brother
One day I discovered Alia, age 2, with her toes, tops of her feet, and various other body parts covered in nail polish. Her response to the situation was, "I'm super mad at Coren. He didn't stop me when I got into Haley's nail polish. Now I need a bath." I could have yelled, but she still would have been a mess and it wouldn't have solved anything. And you have to admit - she had a point. Her four year old brother could have had his wits about him and stopped her from turning her feet into works of nail polish art. Oh, wait, he's four, and has a difficult enough time controlling his own behavior. I let natural consequences run their course - nail polish doesn't wash off well in the bath, which frustrates a 2-year-old with OCD tendencies.
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| "Moose about to puke" |
Ah, the importance of a sense of humor and just plain silliness when parenting.
Alia and the Irresponsible Brother
One day I discovered Alia, age 2, with her toes, tops of her feet, and various other body parts covered in nail polish. Her response to the situation was, "I'm super mad at Coren. He didn't stop me when I got into Haley's nail polish. Now I need a bath." I could have yelled, but she still would have been a mess and it wouldn't have solved anything. And you have to admit - she had a point. Her four year old brother could have had his wits about him and stopped her from turning her feet into works of nail polish art. Oh, wait, he's four, and has a difficult enough time controlling his own behavior. I let natural consequences run their course - nail polish doesn't wash off well in the bath, which frustrates a 2-year-old with OCD tendencies.
When Your Kids Look Like This
Don't get mad. Take a deep breath, and loudly proclaim that MUDFEST has gotten off to a great start and that the festivities shall continue until each child is thoroughly muddy and much fun has been had. Don't worry. Kids are washable. And it's really fun to hear them squeal as you attack them with a water-spewing hose under the guise of leaving as much mud outside as possible.
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