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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Kleenex Battle
Yesterday Emily & I engaged in another "battle of the wills" over none other than--Kleenexes. As I just posted, she has decided she doesn't like the feeling of a tear-stained, snot-streaked face. Now whenever she even slightly begins any kind of protest (whether tears have been evoked or not) her first reaction is, "Need a Kleenex". Because this has become quite a frequent occurrence, I decided that she was a big girl and was perfectly capable of wiping her own face and nose (and she is b/c I've seen her do it). However, Emily vehemently disagrees. She insists, "Mommy'll do it" and refuses to hold the Kleenex--especially if it is at all slightly used. She even goes as far as to reach out her neck and try and wipe her face on the Kleenex in my outstretched hand offering it to her. Well, I'm not going to do that. So, although I'll show her how and gently guide her hand (which she doesn't like either), I'm not going to wipe it for her. That makes her cry more. Which makes her need a Kleenex all the more. A 20-minute episode of this is why we didn't get to stay outside very long yesterday. Of course, after moving it inside the circus act just intensified because then I had to deal with a dog who goes ga-ga over Kleenexes (especially used ones) and a child who was violently throwing them on the floor as part of the rejection process. Anyway, the battle isn't over, but I definitely have the upper hand. It's a pretty easy one to win if you don't mind a few tears and a messy looking face. :o)
Those battles can be very frustrating. Wendell and I had a battle yesterday over putting on his bib which would result in trying a bite of the homemade oatmeal that I made for breakfast. Usually when he refuses to put his bib on then I make him sit at the table for a few minutes and then usually he's willing to put it on but yesterday he totally protested with crying, screaming, and hands being waved in the air. So after about 10 minutes I decided I would put the bib on him whether he liked it or not and then the situation escalated. So after another 10 minutes I told he had to try at least one bite and he refused to do that as well. (we have a try at least one bite rule). So then I informed him that he would not get any breakfast if he didn't at least try a bite and of course that didn't go over very well either. So after about a total of 30 minutes of sitting at the table and having a total melt down I set up the pack-n-play upstairs and made him sit there with no toys or tv for about another 30 minutes, or as I told him, until he calmed down. When he got up, he was mister happy and cheerful. I think I handled it well overall but next time, some people would say that I'd need to offer the oatmeal at every meal until he tried at least one bite/or ate it. I'm not sure what I'd do if he could get out the pack-n-play as discipline would be much harder in this situation. I did not make him eat oatmeal for lunch this time as I was tired of melt downs but maybe next time. Good luck with the kleenex battle!
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