Oh lordy, the Bug’s growing up!!
This has been an interesting week for him at school. First, we’ve entered the “clingy” stage where he cries every morning when I drop him off. BREAKS MY HEART! I learned over the course of the week to say good-bye, tell him I love him and not look back!. The first two days I looked back and the entire day I had this image of my little man’s lip quivering in my head. Not a good thing for my mommy self-esteem.
But now, we’re going into a whole new territory. Last week, I was told that his teachers were trying to work on the Bug’s patience. Don’t laugh. I know there isn’t a one year old on the planet that understands what patience is but my child is BAD. The hubby and I tell him “one second” when he wants something, but regardless, the whining, fake crying begins. So I ignore him. I KNOW it’s the best thing I can do as he has to learn that you can’t get what you want immediately or all the time, but it’s so hard. And the fact that his teachers have told me he’s the worst in his class causes me to be a tad embarrassed. I think it’s not my fault, but what if it is? What can I do to show him that he has to learn to wait?
And this week…I learned I have a klepto. I should probably backtrack before I tell this story. For those of you that haven’t met the Bug, you need to know he’s an eater. My little man will eat anything you put in front of him…catfood included. (Yup, he sure did. We didn’t catch him in time, speedy little thing.) And since we now all know he has a patience problem, meal time, as you can imagine, is a bit tricky. When he wants to eat, he WANTS TO EAT!
So, I go to pick him up from school on Monday and his teacher says “I have a funny story for you.” Apparently, she had a sandwich for lunch that she put off to the side as they try not to eat in front of the kids. Well, the Bug saw it and immediately went over to the counter where she had it and tried to reach for it. So she moved it to the top of the cubby’s. All in all, I think she moved it 20 times, but the Bug always managed to find it. THEN…that afternoon they got out a bag of crackers for the kids and put it on a counter to be eaten in the next 30-45 minutes. Not five minutes later, they see my son dragging this huge bag of crackers around the classroom, trying to figure out how he can open it and get something into his mouth.
I promise you I feed my child. His tummy is so ridulously big; I just can’t believe it. And when he walks around shirtless, he claps his hands against his belly in pride and smiles, smiles, smiles.
At least I don’t have to worry about him being underweight. But all kidding aside, how did you teach your child about patience? I know it will come with time and we have to stick to our guns. But the incessant whining driving me crazy…and we have a long way to go. I can’t imagine what he’ll be like at four.
OMG, the cracker story made me laugh out loud! As for the patience, just let him throw his fits and turn your back to it so you don't have to watch it. It helped with K, but we're STILL experiencing fits every now and then at almost 4 (gulp…I said it, 4).
My child is the bossy. She tells 8 year olds what to do and they do it!! She is 2… I got her progress report from school today (yes report cards for a 2 year old) and evidently she has trouble with the word "no". She said "Holy Crap" in school one day but luckily ratted on her father as being the one who said it! She woke up everyone at nap time the other day and I got a note about that explaining that her teacher told her I would "talk to her". So each time I sink a little lower. Patience… she is getting better when she wants to. But I wouldn't worry about it now, it will come when he is like 20. Don't feel embarassed, all parents are in the same boat! Ignoring the fits do work, but it gets better when they are more verbal. My daughter had alot of signs and talked early, I saw that she was a little more patient then her peers. Now she tells me off… I am not that pleased about the high verbal skills.
The klepto story is hilarious!! Oooh, I'm not a good one on patience though. Hubby always picks on me for my lack of it! One thing I DID find (at least at 2) was instead of saying "one second" or "wait just a minute," I got more specific and said "wait until I finish this phone call" or "wait until I get we finish dinner." That seems to help!
The klepto thing cracks me up! One trick I learned about patience (at least with a 2 YO) is that kids have no concept of time. So instead of saying "just a second" I'll say "wait until I finish x." It seems to help!