Sunday, April 15, 2012
21
I can't believe it's almost been 3 weeks since Russell
got his cast on! In some ways it seems like we were just there getting the cast
on, and in some ways it seems like he's had it on forever!
We took the gate that we've had at the top of our stairs (since he got his cast back on, it just was safer) yesterday. He's getting so good at the stairs again. I don't feel like it's a danger anymore. They're not easy for him by any means, but his balance is getting better. It's apparently a lot easier to go down than up (I'm not surprised) because he'll go downstairs, just because he can, I think. And then he'll play for awhile, but then when he's ready to come back upstairs, he just sits at the bottom and cries, yelling, "Mom!" intermittently until I come where he can see me. And then he just gives me this pleading look that says, "please come get me. I'm too tired to come upstairs by myself." And so I do. I'm actually grateful for this, because most of the time I try to not help him, so that he'll learn to do things by himself. But the stairs are REALLY so hard for him, and I feel ok about helping him with that. And helping him is what I really want to do- it's so hard for me to not jump in and make everything easier for him. I would love to just make everything better for him. But I cannot. It will not do him any favors in his life if he learns that I will do everything for him. He will only get stronger if I let him figure out by himself how to do things.
Can you tell that I say this to myself all day?
It's a good lesson for me. I am naturally one of those parents who loves to swoop in and save my children from everything that could possibly hurt them. But I've recently begun learning to not do this. It doesn't do any of my children any favors. They won't learn anything if I do that.
And I'm seeing some wonderful results in my kids as I try out this better parenting technique. Which is what makes it all worth it in the end.
We took the gate that we've had at the top of our stairs (since he got his cast back on, it just was safer) yesterday. He's getting so good at the stairs again. I don't feel like it's a danger anymore. They're not easy for him by any means, but his balance is getting better. It's apparently a lot easier to go down than up (I'm not surprised) because he'll go downstairs, just because he can, I think. And then he'll play for awhile, but then when he's ready to come back upstairs, he just sits at the bottom and cries, yelling, "Mom!" intermittently until I come where he can see me. And then he just gives me this pleading look that says, "please come get me. I'm too tired to come upstairs by myself." And so I do. I'm actually grateful for this, because most of the time I try to not help him, so that he'll learn to do things by himself. But the stairs are REALLY so hard for him, and I feel ok about helping him with that. And helping him is what I really want to do- it's so hard for me to not jump in and make everything easier for him. I would love to just make everything better for him. But I cannot. It will not do him any favors in his life if he learns that I will do everything for him. He will only get stronger if I let him figure out by himself how to do things.
Can you tell that I say this to myself all day?
It's a good lesson for me. I am naturally one of those parents who loves to swoop in and save my children from everything that could possibly hurt them. But I've recently begun learning to not do this. It doesn't do any of my children any favors. They won't learn anything if I do that.
And I'm seeing some wonderful results in my kids as I try out this better parenting technique. Which is what makes it all worth it in the end.
3 comments:
Also, is his cast made of porous material? If not, You could try spraying it with a vinegar/water solution to help disinfect and get rid of smells. Tea tree oil would help, too. But, if it's porous, then the vinegar is bad.