Last night I went to another Love and Logic class. This one seemed better than last week's session, so that's good. Most people in the class have slightly older children (2-5 years old) and I feel like the problems they have with their children are genuine, where as the problems I have with Ellie seem so silly when in comparison. I just feel like Ellie hasn't gotten to the age yet where she gives me a bunch of challenges, so I'm a little unsure of how to apply the "love and logic" principles to what I'm doing with Ellie right now.
Anyway, last night I finally did bring up an example of a challenge that Ellie gives me. In fact, it is really the main challenge that I can think of, after all we have it nearly every evening. What is this horrible challenge? Well, she cries whenever we're heating the bottle. She just can not understand why she can't have the bottle RIGHT now. So, I was asking how to apply the rules to that particular situation, and if anyone had any suggestions.
Mother #1 asked:
Well, why do you need to heat the bottle at all?
My response:
Hmmm... I have no idea.
Mother #2 asked:
Why don't you change the routine so that it includes starting the bottle, then reading a book, then going back to get the warmed bottle?
My response:
Hmmm... I have no idea.
Mother #3 asked:
Why do you need to do a bottle at all?
My response:
Hmmm... I have no idea.
When I started the evening routine, it saved our lives. Finally things started to be easier for all of us. And since then, the general unspoken rule has been "DON'T MESS WITH THE ROUTINE!!!" but these moms pointed out three INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS solutions, all of which I felt embarrassed to not have considered on my own.
I guess I'll have to get back into the habit of changing something if it's not working. I was better at that when things were obviously bad than I am now when things are going so well overall.
2 comments:
lol. I had a similar dilemma with my new kitten. She would become incredibly bitchy when hungry, biting, clawing and struggling to get down. I would be holding her and taking the milk out of the microwave and she would act like she was dying and WHY was she not eating right that very minute!
Finally I thought ok, how about I grab her once the milk is ready? Then I won't be holding her while she waits.
That helped a lot. She's still bitchy but I'm learning to manage it.
Thanks for sharing! I think kids and animals don't really understand the concept of "wait a minute"... haha
We finally wised up and started using the microwave for heating the bottle (instead of the bottle warmer). Sure it heats the bottle unevenly, but the solution to that is to shake the bottle afterwards. It works like a charm. I swear companies scare parents into buying their products.
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