...has been a good day. The standard has been set and expectations have (once again) been clarified, and we, his parents, (once again) resolved to praise the successes more than we scold the failures, should the littlest and most forgetful one (again) neglect to remember the terms, as they had been agreed upon.
"You are being so nice to your friend," we now say, when he is pleasant to his guest and generous with his toys. (And we don't mention that really, if you think about it, it's just normal and not very exceptional to be minimally polite to visiting playmates.)
Or, "You tidied without even being asked!" And we (try to remember to) use that exclamation point for emphasis only, rather than surprise.
He is pleased with himself, too, and when, at the end of the day, as we name the many ways in which he has been spontaneously helpful or well-mannered or thoughtful, or has in some way has exhibited self-mastery, he likes to remind us of how far he has come since The Very Worst Day of All: "And I didn't hit my sisters and I didn't paint my face and theirs with mustard and I didn't even jump off the mantel while banging on the drum and I didn't even pick up a cat and slam it against a car AND I didn't pee in the trashcan!"
Well, so far so good today. With only two more playdate hours to go.
"You are being so nice to your friend," we now say, when he is pleasant to his guest and generous with his toys. (And we don't mention that really, if you think about it, it's just normal and not very exceptional to be minimally polite to visiting playmates.)
Or, "You tidied without even being asked!" And we (try to remember to) use that exclamation point for emphasis only, rather than surprise.
He is pleased with himself, too, and when, at the end of the day, as we name the many ways in which he has been spontaneously helpful or well-mannered or thoughtful, or has in some way has exhibited self-mastery, he likes to remind us of how far he has come since The Very Worst Day of All: "And I didn't hit my sisters and I didn't paint my face and theirs with mustard and I didn't even jump off the mantel while banging on the drum and I didn't even pick up a cat and slam it against a car AND I didn't pee in the trashcan!"
Well, so far so good today. With only two more playdate hours to go.
3 comments:
The picture says it all!
maybe he needs to be asked, 'why didn't he hit his sisters or jump off the mantel while slamming a cat against a car?' he must have his reasons...
hahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahah
you are the most patient parents in the world.
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