I have made a couple breakthroughs with the kids I spend every day with in the past couple of weeks. As I have said before, L, and I don't always see eye to eye on everything. We butt heads a lot, and don't always "get along", one could say. His younger brother, A, is always wanting to snuggle with me, but L usually keeps his distance. The other day though, when he woke up from his nap, he walked over to me and held up his arms for me to pick him up. When I did he put his head on my shoulder, tucked his arms under mine, and just laid there for a while. It was so sweet. Then he started grinding his teeth and I had to put him down. None the less, I considered it a breakthrough.
C, who is another very challenging 3 year old, very seldom laughs. The only time I've really seen him laugh is when he knows he's doing something "naughty" in his words, and is laughing to make sure I am aware that he's doing something wrong. There are things I do with C, that I don't do with some of the other kids, because without other siblings/kids around that are within his age range, he is seldom told "no" and doesn't ever have to share things. Examples of this are not letting him draw on my page when we are coloring, or not letting him use a block I have for a period of time until I'm done...even though I don't really care that much about my crayon picture or tower I'm building. I figure this teaches him that he needs to respect peoples' space and that he doesn't have authoritative power over everything he sees. Maybe it just makes me feel better. Anyway, I was having a difficult day with C, where he was bossing me around, telling me to pick something up after he dropped it, etc, etc. We went outside to play soccer, and since I was feeling slightly annoyed with him, when he went to pick his soccer ball up I moved it a little to the left with my foot. I wondered what his reaction would be, and to my great surprise he laughed! I did it again and he laughed even more! C thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen! We actually had a lot of fun together for the next half hour or so, playing this game of keep away (of course I let him get it every 3rd or 4th time). I can't say that there have been many times I've had fun wtih C, so I think this definitely qualifies as another breakthrough.
On another note, I was just watching A play with his dog, who he loves and is driven crazy by in almost equal parts. His head is right at the level of the dog's head, so he is often being followed by her with her tongue on his face, licking of remnants of lunch, or in some cases, snot. Today though, he was actually standing face to face with her, opening his mouth and letting her lick inside it for as long as he could stand before he cracked up, presumably because it tickled so much. It was hilarious and disgusting. Hilariously disgusting.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Melt Down
For some reason I was dreading the start of this week with C, and my psychic capabilities must have been on key because today C had meltdowns about EVERYTHING. The day started off normally, with him being happy I had come, and then showing me everything in the apartment he is not supposed to touch.
The first tantrum was about wanting a circle to be a square. He kept asking me to make his train tracks loop back a certain way to connect to the ones we had already built. When I started using the curved pieces to do this, he started ripping them out and screaming/crying/drooling--generally freaking out. I asked him what was wrong and he said he wanted it to be a square. I told him that if he wanted it to loop back, it had to be a circle, that a square wasn't going to work in the space we had. Tantrums ensued for the next twenty minutes.
The next tantrum he had was about wanting a white crayon to write on white paper. It was the only crayon, out of the 24 possible, that he wanted to use. And he wanted it to write on the white paper. Another 10 minute of crying.
The final (major) tantrum in the four hours I was with C this morning, was when we were halfway to the Franklin Institute, which is about a half mile from his house, and he decided he wanted to wear a different coat. He cried almost the entire way to the museum, because he wanted to change coats. Luckily, as I have said in a previous post, when he cries, he generally walks faster. I've become pretty good at blocking out the noise, though I still notice the stares I get as people walk by.
C had one more tantrum about wanting to go into his apartment building via another door, but it didn't last very long. He was probably just too exhausted from the all the "tantrumming" he had done earlier.
What a morning.
The first tantrum was about wanting a circle to be a square. He kept asking me to make his train tracks loop back a certain way to connect to the ones we had already built. When I started using the curved pieces to do this, he started ripping them out and screaming/crying/drooling--generally freaking out. I asked him what was wrong and he said he wanted it to be a square. I told him that if he wanted it to loop back, it had to be a circle, that a square wasn't going to work in the space we had. Tantrums ensued for the next twenty minutes.
The next tantrum he had was about wanting a white crayon to write on white paper. It was the only crayon, out of the 24 possible, that he wanted to use. And he wanted it to write on the white paper. Another 10 minute of crying.
The final (major) tantrum in the four hours I was with C this morning, was when we were halfway to the Franklin Institute, which is about a half mile from his house, and he decided he wanted to wear a different coat. He cried almost the entire way to the museum, because he wanted to change coats. Luckily, as I have said in a previous post, when he cries, he generally walks faster. I've become pretty good at blocking out the noise, though I still notice the stares I get as people walk by.
C had one more tantrum about wanting to go into his apartment building via another door, but it didn't last very long. He was probably just too exhausted from the all the "tantrumming" he had done earlier.
What a morning.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
I Want to Hold Your Hand
I wish my day had been filled with this lovely Beatles song instead of the following meltdowns. When I say meltdowns, I mean the serious kind, that last much longer than you expect--so long the kids usually don't remember what they're crying about anymore, and produce huge tears, and lots of snot.
This morning, C and I were going to go to the library. He seemed perfectly excited about it, and we have gone many times together. His mom walked out the door with us because she was going to the grocery store, and a few steps after she parted ways with us, C started screaming and crying that he wanted to hold his mom's hand. I told him we just had to walk two blocks to the library and drop off some books, and get new ones, and then we could go back to the house and hold mommy's hand. He continued to scream all the way to the library, two city blocks, and then for about 10 minutes outside of the library because I told him we couldn't go in until he could stop crying. The interesting part was, the whole time we were walking, he was keeping up with me, which is usually not the case. I guess because he was so upset he didn't have time to be distracted by other things on our walk, and it was actually pretty nice for me (despite the screaming I had to listen to).
This afternoon I was watching L and A, and L wanted to go outside. It's been kind of rainy and cold all day, so I didn't really want to stand outside while they played, but I told him we could go out for a little bit with the hopes it would tire him out and he'd take a long nap. L wanted to get in his little plastic car, and wanted his brother to as well, but A wasn't interested. This is when the meltdown began. Then, finally, A got in his little car (maybe he's conditioned to do what L wants so that he doesn't have to listen to screaming) and then L continued to scream, saying he wanted to hold A's hand. I told L he could ride his car over to A and hold his hand, but he just started screaming louder and crying. I asked him what was wrong, and to use his words, and he just kept saying he wanted to hold A's hand and reaching his hand out of the car, but not moving the car with his feet. Finally, I told L we had to go inside if he couldn't use his words and be nice, to which he of course screamed at me more and refused to go in. I took A inside and watched L from the window, sitting in the driveway screaming and crying. Every time I opened the door to ask if he wanted to come in with us, he just screamed at me at the top of his lungs. Finally I brought him inside where he cried on the floor until I brought him to his room for a (much needed) nap.
In sum, I hope everyone is able to hold the hand of the person they'd like to today, and if not, then I wish them the strength to endure the time they are unable to.
This morning, C and I were going to go to the library. He seemed perfectly excited about it, and we have gone many times together. His mom walked out the door with us because she was going to the grocery store, and a few steps after she parted ways with us, C started screaming and crying that he wanted to hold his mom's hand. I told him we just had to walk two blocks to the library and drop off some books, and get new ones, and then we could go back to the house and hold mommy's hand. He continued to scream all the way to the library, two city blocks, and then for about 10 minutes outside of the library because I told him we couldn't go in until he could stop crying. The interesting part was, the whole time we were walking, he was keeping up with me, which is usually not the case. I guess because he was so upset he didn't have time to be distracted by other things on our walk, and it was actually pretty nice for me (despite the screaming I had to listen to).
This afternoon I was watching L and A, and L wanted to go outside. It's been kind of rainy and cold all day, so I didn't really want to stand outside while they played, but I told him we could go out for a little bit with the hopes it would tire him out and he'd take a long nap. L wanted to get in his little plastic car, and wanted his brother to as well, but A wasn't interested. This is when the meltdown began. Then, finally, A got in his little car (maybe he's conditioned to do what L wants so that he doesn't have to listen to screaming) and then L continued to scream, saying he wanted to hold A's hand. I told L he could ride his car over to A and hold his hand, but he just started screaming louder and crying. I asked him what was wrong, and to use his words, and he just kept saying he wanted to hold A's hand and reaching his hand out of the car, but not moving the car with his feet. Finally, I told L we had to go inside if he couldn't use his words and be nice, to which he of course screamed at me more and refused to go in. I took A inside and watched L from the window, sitting in the driveway screaming and crying. Every time I opened the door to ask if he wanted to come in with us, he just screamed at me at the top of his lungs. Finally I brought him inside where he cried on the floor until I brought him to his room for a (much needed) nap.
In sum, I hope everyone is able to hold the hand of the person they'd like to today, and if not, then I wish them the strength to endure the time they are unable to.
Crust
In my days with six kids ages 3 and under, I come across a lot of crust--in many forms. What I am referring to in this post though, is the crust on bread. Some kids don't like to eat it, which I have never understood. Is it because it is a different color? A different texture? On most of the white bread or soft wheat bread I've seen kids eat, the crust really doesn't feel much different than the rest of the bread. Anyway, some kids won't go near it, like L for example, who leaves about an inch of bread before he gets to the crust, which means he really doesn't get much of the sandwich, and is consequently always still hungry. I usually give L's crust (and inch of sandwich attached) to his little brother, who happily eats the whole thing.
C, on the other hand, eats his crust first. It's his favorite part. I've never seen a kid love the crust of bread so much, but for all his strange qualities, this is one I love about him.
I have found a solution to the avoidance of ultimate crust piece of bread, the heel, which even many adults I know refuse to eat. When I make the kids sandwiches, I turn the heel piece upside down, so that the white side is up. That way they don't know it's the heel, and there is the added bonus of being no crust on the other side, so they can eat the whole thing! Sarah 1, Crust 0.
C, on the other hand, eats his crust first. It's his favorite part. I've never seen a kid love the crust of bread so much, but for all his strange qualities, this is one I love about him.
I have found a solution to the avoidance of ultimate crust piece of bread, the heel, which even many adults I know refuse to eat. When I make the kids sandwiches, I turn the heel piece upside down, so that the white side is up. That way they don't know it's the heel, and there is the added bonus of being no crust on the other side, so they can eat the whole thing! Sarah 1, Crust 0.
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