Hug
One night last week Ryan woke up (as he does most nights) right around 11:00PM. And while sometimes I can just pat him on the back a few times and get him to go back to sleep he has four (FOUR!) teeth coming in now and was decidedly miserable. No matter what I did he just sobbed.
I'd had a rough day, and wasn't up for the fight so I just gave up and brought him downstairs. But he refused to be consoled no matter what I did. I was sitting down holding him, but that wasn't good. I tried standing and rocking him - he arched his back and tried to slither out of my arms. I put him down - he flopped on the ground sobbing. I gave him to Hari - he cried even harder. Nothing made this kid any less miserable.
Then Hari got smart. He tried humor.
He asked Ryan if he (Hari) could hug his (Ryan's) foot.
Ryan paused briefly, looked at Hari through extreme pouty, oversized blue eyes filled with tears, and slowly.. slowly... stuck his foot out. Hari acted so happy, gushed, and gave Ryan's foot a big hug. Ryan then wiggled around in my lap, and offered the other foot. Then said "Unnh. UNNH!" (with his two fingers in his mouth, of course), demanding that Hari hug his other foot.
And that was all it took to fix the entire night. Ryan was calm, he snuggled in my lap, rested his head against my shoulder, and fell back asleep.
What's even funnier is that this is now an ongoing "thing" with Ryan. Most nights Hari works late, so I often call him while the boys and I are eating dinner so we can say hello. Hari will tell Ryan "Give mommy a foot hug!" and the child will stop eating, and stick one of his feet in my general direction, fully expecting me to immediately drop everything and hug his foot. If we're all home Hari will sometimes bring it up (or I will!) and Ryan will walk over, stand in front of you, and stick one foot up at you... with a clear intent. HUG MY FOOT!
Yes, my kids are weird. And I love it!
I'd had a rough day, and wasn't up for the fight so I just gave up and brought him downstairs. But he refused to be consoled no matter what I did. I was sitting down holding him, but that wasn't good. I tried standing and rocking him - he arched his back and tried to slither out of my arms. I put him down - he flopped on the ground sobbing. I gave him to Hari - he cried even harder. Nothing made this kid any less miserable.
Then Hari got smart. He tried humor.
He asked Ryan if he (Hari) could hug his (Ryan's) foot.
Ryan paused briefly, looked at Hari through extreme pouty, oversized blue eyes filled with tears, and slowly.. slowly... stuck his foot out. Hari acted so happy, gushed, and gave Ryan's foot a big hug. Ryan then wiggled around in my lap, and offered the other foot. Then said "Unnh. UNNH!" (with his two fingers in his mouth, of course), demanding that Hari hug his other foot.
And that was all it took to fix the entire night. Ryan was calm, he snuggled in my lap, rested his head against my shoulder, and fell back asleep.
What's even funnier is that this is now an ongoing "thing" with Ryan. Most nights Hari works late, so I often call him while the boys and I are eating dinner so we can say hello. Hari will tell Ryan "Give mommy a foot hug!" and the child will stop eating, and stick one of his feet in my general direction, fully expecting me to immediately drop everything and hug his foot. If we're all home Hari will sometimes bring it up (or I will!) and Ryan will walk over, stand in front of you, and stick one foot up at you... with a clear intent. HUG MY FOOT!
Yes, my kids are weird. And I love it!
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