Well today we had a little parenting test....I'm not sure who won or if I passed but still, we had a moment. Jessie and Jack had been invited to a birthday party. Jack was (somewhat surprisingly) excited to attend and had been singing the Happy Birthday song for a few days. I had told him that he'd need to be good if he were to go to the party. I'm sure there are some hard core AP'ers who would tsk tsk at me for using blackmail or coercion to get my way, but there ya go, life's like that sometimes! Anyway, today Jack was NOT good. He was WILD. There's no other way to describe it. He was angry and throwing things, yelling and being monstrous. I really didn't think it would be a good idea for anyone concerned if Jack were to go to the party... but I really wanted him to go because HE wanted to go. Nevertheless, I told Jack that if he couldn't calm down and be nice then he and I would stay home and Jessie would go to the party with Daddy. Jack weighed his options and decided that staying home sounded fine to him. **sigh**. So stay home we did. It really was for the best, Jack was just wound tight today. Lots of cuddles, food and being helpful seemed to make him feel a bit better. He enjoys being of use and feeling important. Jessie had a marvelous time at the party ( as I knew she would ) and Jack and I got to have some bonding time together.
No harm,no foul! ;D
3 comments:
Have I told you lately how much I like you? You are a wonderful mom and a good friend!
I love how real you keep this blog!
Sometimes our children cannot really express their true needs. They might think they need to go to the party. Parties sound like sooooo much fun, don't they? Sometimes what they really need shows more in their actions than their words. Sometimes a child really needs connection with mom while his sister goes and does that really fun sounding thing that he thought he wanted.
AP is about finding the underlying hidden need that even the child may not be aware of. Bravo to you!
Sounds good all around! And I don't think hard core AP'ers would disagree with you at all. Maybe people who misunderstand AP and think it's just permissive parenting and neglect, but that's not AP at all! You were still AP-- you didn't punish him, you played with him and met his needs. That's my take on it anyway! :)
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