Jonathon is a good little boy whom I'm afraid has his Mama's number. He is a very active four and half year old who can be either the sweetest boy on the planet or the King of Disagree and Disobey -- of course, depending on the moment. He tends to act out with me more than anyone else and it is very frustrating as I spend more time with him than anyone else. Lately I've been searching the parenting books and blogs for ideas on how to curtail his "Kingly" behavior and bring out more of his sweetness.
Because Carly has been in Kindergarten this year, I've spent a lot of one on one time with Jono but I ran into this thought the other day that made sense. It suggested spending a very focused 15 minutes of bonding with each child every day and said if you did you would find yourself having less problems with them. I decided to try it out yesterday.
When Jono woke up he came in to cuddle with me like he usually does but he wasn't there long when he said he wanted some cereal. He wanted to get it himself and since he's becoming very independent about such things I let him. He ended up bringing it in the bedroom--just the container -- not a bowl of cereal and milk. It was Lucky Charms. He came back and cuddled by me with his Lucky Charms in bed. I noticed he was pretty much just eating the marshmallows, a real no-no at our house. I started to tell him he had to eat all of the cereal he took when something happened to me. I reverted to a four and half year old. I joined him. We both ate the Lucky Charms. Just the Lucky Charms. Until they were gone. We bonded - big time! It worked! We had a much better day together.
The dilemma. Well, there are a couple. What do I do with the rest of the cereal. It's Rob's favorite, too. I have to get rid of the evidence. I don't want to just waste it and throw it out. That would be bad, right? Worse than eating all of the charms, right? Yah, that's what I thought. I mean, no one wants to eat just the . . . what are THOSE things anyway? I guess I will go with plan B and give them to the dogs. They won't tell on us and will just be happy to have a treat!
My next dilemma is how do I top that Mama/Son bonding experience? I mean, I can't be eating a box of Lucky Charms with him every day just to get him to behave better! I will say, it did help a ton to get down in his world and see things from his four year old perspective. He was in his sweet mode most of the day! Guess, I just need to try to remember what it was like to be four . . . more. Although, if any of you have suggestions on how to get boys to listen to their Mama's better, I'm all ears! :) Now, off to get rid of the evidence before there's a Saturday morning cereal incident! Lol!
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