3 1/2-year-old Elijah has been a challenge since birth. He is always coming up with new ways to stir the pot. He is predictably unpredictable whenever he is overtired or hungry. We usually try to avoid this, but sometimes that is impossible.
Just recently, while we were house sitting at grandma and grandpa's he decided at bedtime that he wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed. After an hour of trying to reason with him, and amazingly enough avoiding a full-blown tantrum, we new we somehow had to get him to bed soon. We took a gamble and decided to "allow" him to go home for bed. At first he thought that he would drive himself home, but we convinced him that that was not the best idea and he would have to walk home.
He got his bag all packed, and even though it was very heavy, decided to drag it all the way home.
Just recently, while we were house sitting at grandma and grandpa's he decided at bedtime that he wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed. After an hour of trying to reason with him, and amazingly enough avoiding a full-blown tantrum, we new we somehow had to get him to bed soon. We took a gamble and decided to "allow" him to go home for bed. At first he thought that he would drive himself home, but we convinced him that that was not the best idea and he would have to walk home.
He got his bag all packed, and even though it was very heavy, decided to drag it all the way home.
We said our goodbyes, "I love yous" and gave kisses and hugs. He was on his way home. It was both humorous and sad at the same time. He actually thought that he was going to walk home!
He asked me which way home was. I told him that he just needed to follow the street. The poor little guy couldn't even see over the snow banks to see the street.
He dragged his bag halfway down the driveway and we watched from the window as he attempted to climb over a snow bank.
Finally, after about 5 minutes, he came back to the door and said he wanted to sleep at grandma and grandpa's for the night because it was too hard to get over the big hill on the way home.
Phew, we "won" one more battle and I think he learned a lesson about mommy and daddy knowing what is best.
This little incident gave us a small glimpse into the many struggles we will have in the future. Seeing is believing for Elijah. Although it will probably be hard, we are going to have to let him try and fail if we want him to learn. For now though we are happy that he doesn't truly want to runaway from us!
1 comment:
so funny! good work guys on successfully teaching him this lesson, next time you should tell him to put on his snow shoes.
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