I decided to try and capture the moment last night of W being rewarded with touching the light in the living room before going to bed. This was a reward for good behavior and almost didn’t happen. W has new toys for the bathtub- those colorful letters and numbers that stick to the tub. He can carry on with those guys for ages and ages and at some point I simply have to conclude bath/play time. If I were to let things continue I know that his energy level would increase and getting him calmed back down for bed would be brutal.
So I bet you all can imagine just how much he hates being asked, then told to allow me to get him out of the tub. Nothing quite so exciting as a flinging wet toddler that is *this* close to the head cracking capabilities of a bathtub. Because I am human I can understand that he is upset and even why he is upset. He wasn’t done playing!
(Toddler swearing is some funny fucking stuff.)
He began his travels to meltdown-land and I could tell that, even when presented with the reward for modifying behavior, it was going to be hard for him. The bathroom light- the ultimate prize- was not even on the table. But once I saw that he really was trying to calm himself down (which is just so amazing to me) I thanked him for changing his behavior and calming down. I told him that it was making it easier to change him and get him dressed. And he seemed to get that and calmed down even more.
His Lolly offered to put him to bed and he softly asked her, “the light?” and we both agreed that he could touch one light before bed. And then I told them they had to wait because I needed to photograph it.
W touches the light
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Tears! I’m such a sucker for W stories.
I absolutely love the look of wonder on his face. It sounds like you’ve found (at least for now) the magic bullet for W.
Good strategies! And what a wonderful picture!
(Might I suggest for next time…let him play with the toys for a certain amount of time right off the bat, then declare it “washing time” (um, with notice – ’5 minutes til washing time’), and remove the toys and commence with the actual bathing. It works well in our house, because during the boring bathing parts, the water has cooled down a bit, and so my girl starts getting a little more amenable to getting out of the bathtub.)
Oh, that’s lovely. I love that W.
I hope my child has something tht works like that!!! He is so adorable.
I throw toys in the tub, and immediately wash the monkeys, rinse, and let play. If they splash more than once they are out.
My problem was with E. The girls would get ou with no problems, put their towels on and happy as can be. E would fight to put the towel on him, so I finally just let him flop around naked a couple times, and he realized that it was cold and that mommy wasn’t going to chase him to put on a towel. Getting dressed, that’s a whole other story
ohhhhhh…that picture is absolutely AMAZING, the tears in my eyes are sparkling just like that light crystal.
thansk for sharing that….
Magical.
Such a beautiful picture!
That is an absolutely beautiful photo! I love it!!!
Stunning!
I love this photo and this story. W is an awesome toddler. He reminds me so much of my boy, who is also a lover of lights.
SUCH a sweet photo. I love it, and how sweet of him to ask his Lolly so nicely.
What a lovely story. Toddler cursing is pretty great!
My daughter is a few months older than W, but I have found that draining the water from the tub while she plays does convince her that it is actually time to get out. The bath just gets more boring that way and then she can think it’s her idea. Not perfect if you’re in a real hurry, but it might be worth a try.