Comments | heartflyte: Scary Place

heartflyte

Scary Place

Jul 09, 2007 09:11

How can I get inside the mind of a 6-yr old boy? Is it as scary in there as I think it might be? And once there, will I be able to get back out?

See, G-man has this problem. With equipment that I don't have and therefore can't fully understand. He frequently pees on the floor and his pants while sitting on the toilet. Apparently he's sitting ( Read more... )

parenting:-(, weakness

Comments 4

unblinkable July 11 2007, 22:14:24 UTC

How's THIS for empathetic parenting... my response at this point (since he's be told to remember to either stand up or sit and point it downward) is to have him clean up his "accident" when it happens. Sure, you'll have to come along later and do a better job. But require him to get a towel, wipe it up and place his pants in the washer. Eventually (after the first couple of times), he'll remember to stand up or sit and point it down. :D

heartflyte July 12 2007, 02:29:40 UTC

Thank you for the "tip from the trenches." It's good to hear from someone who has experience. I honestly did just about exactly what you described when he did it on Monday. What upsets me, though, isn't what I DO when this kind of stuff happens, it's how I FEEL about it. It just isn't appropriate for my initial reaction to be anger/disgust, is it?

unblinkable July 12 2007, 04:06:13 UTC

Are you human? Do you like to clean up pee? If you answered "no", then it's normal for you to struggle with those feelings. What wouldn't be good would be for you to beat your child or call him names or humiliate him in front of his peers because of it. The best thing you can do when you feel those moments rise up? Close the door to the bathroom and don't go in there to clean until you calm down. Nothing will blow up in the meantime. :)

heartflyte July 12 2007, 12:43:25 UTC

You're right again. I don't call him names, but I did tell him he's too old for this kind of stuff, in a not-so-lovey voice. That may border on humiliating so I need to watch out for that. Keeping calm is probably my biggest challenge as a parent. I pray for patience, but He has a funny way of giving it to me- through more practice. And more practice, and more practice...

Thanks again for the encouragement.