Jac is doing much better when it comes to controlling his frustration and emotions. I am getting to where I can pretty much predict when he is going to have a meltdown.
He had one yesterday because he had been gone from me until late afternoon and something had been building up in him all day. They told him at school that he needed to wash his hands a certain way. They did a whole program on it, watched a movie, gave them handouts, etc. Well, it just so happens that Jac doesn't like to wash his hands and but he does wash them diligently after he uses the potty - but under protest. I fully anticipate another hand washing strike to hit at some point. But my little rule follower was so upset that he had been washing his hands the wrong way AND that now they wanted him to add some "perceived" extra steps. Insult to injury - the new way would definitely take several seconds longer than the current way.
My brilliant parenting tactic was to tell him to forget it. This may be the wrong message - but I said first of all their were some adults that didn't wash their hands so he was already better off, and secondly - you can't do everything in life perfect. Some things you just have to do. Get them done and be done. Don't look back. I told him that there would be things in life that he would want to practice and do really well and others not so much.
This blatantly goes against the saying "if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well", but you know what if I tell this to my little perfectionist he will probably end up in therapy. He will figure out that there are chores in life that he doesn't like sooner rather than later and some things just need to get done.
Anyway, he seems happy with that, and slightly scandalized that some adults don't wash their hands!
Posts
