Goodbye shark!
This morning as we walked into school Ryan was very excited to see the latest art display. The school decorates the entry hallway with artwork from the students, and this month the theme is all things aquatic, so the newest installation was a collection of sharks. Lovely blue sharks, each with a giant mouth of white teeth (made from a cut paper plate). Displayed exactly at Ryan's eye level.
"Mommy! Wook! WOOK! Shaaahks! Shaahks, Mommy!"
I was running a little late, so I tried to move things along. "I see, Ryan. I see the sharks. Now, let's keep going. Say goodbye to the sharks."
This was my oh-so-clever trick with Colin. When I wanted him to move along, put something down, etc. I always told him to say goodbye to the thing/person and he was happy to comply. It was much less dramatic than having to drag him away from something, and we avoided the tantrums that you so often see parents enduring when they are in a store with a young toddler. It worked so well I figured I'd use the same method with Ryan, and it has generally been a successful tactic.
Today my brilliant process took a little twist.
Ryan was willing to bid farewell to the art-sharks, but decided he had to say goodbye to every single shark. Individually. He would put his face directly in front of a shark, wave and say "Goodbye shaahk." or "See-ya waiter shaahk." "Buh-bye shaaahk." and so on and so forth. He made it through 7 or 8 sharks and then finally decided it was enough and walked through the door that I was (very!) patiently holding.
His former teacher from the infant room was sitting behind the front desk, witnessing the whole incident, laughing hysterically. And I was too... Ryan will follow direction, but you never know how (or when!) he'll put his own spin on things.
"Mommy! Wook! WOOK! Shaaahks! Shaahks, Mommy!"I was running a little late, so I tried to move things along. "I see, Ryan. I see the sharks. Now, let's keep going. Say goodbye to the sharks."
This was my oh-so-clever trick with Colin. When I wanted him to move along, put something down, etc. I always told him to say goodbye to the thing/person and he was happy to comply. It was much less dramatic than having to drag him away from something, and we avoided the tantrums that you so often see parents enduring when they are in a store with a young toddler. It worked so well I figured I'd use the same method with Ryan, and it has generally been a successful tactic.
Today my brilliant process took a little twist.
Ryan was willing to bid farewell to the art-sharks, but decided he had to say goodbye to every single shark. Individually. He would put his face directly in front of a shark, wave and say "Goodbye shaahk." or "See-ya waiter shaahk." "Buh-bye shaaahk." and so on and so forth. He made it through 7 or 8 sharks and then finally decided it was enough and walked through the door that I was (very!) patiently holding.
His former teacher from the infant room was sitting behind the front desk, witnessing the whole incident, laughing hysterically. And I was too... Ryan will follow direction, but you never know how (or when!) he'll put his own spin on things.
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