My dear sweet Max has a very hard time keeping a positive attitude. If he doesn't get his way then suddenly everything in the world is wrong and he remembers every time he didn't get his way. Just moments ago Elese saw me cleaning up her toy phone and then said, "Phone please" so I gave it to her and continued cleaning. Then Max says, "You didn't give me anything. That wasn't very nice." First I let him know that his sister asked and he didn't ask for anything and then I took away his toy he was currently playing with and told him he needed to be grateful for what he has and that he could get it back when he could be more grateful. Then I decided that we needed to be more grateful as a family and that we should start saying what we are grateful for every morning at breakfast starting now. I told Max that I was grateful for a place to live and that I have a floor to sweep (I was sweeping at the time). I asked what he was grateful for.
"I'm grateful for nothing." I reminded him that he needed to tell me something that he is grateful for, so he said, "I'm grateful for my toys. I'm grateful that my toys are boring."
So...how do I teach him to be more positive and grateful for what he has?
1 comment:
I heard the BEST idea from someone! Their daughter wanted a bike because all of the kids in the neighborhood had one and she wanted to ride with them (I think she was 6). So instead of just giving her one or giving it to her for Christmas or her birthday, her parents decided to give her parts of her bike after she had earned it. About once a week or so, if she has earned it, a piece of her bike would arrive on her doorstep. She didn't know which day it would happen or even if it would. Eventually after several months, she earned all the parts of her bike. It became this huge thing because all the kids in the neighborhood were just as anxious for her to earn part of her bike. I've thought SO MANY times about doing something similar for Annie and really making her earn her things. I have actually started making her earn things I would otherwise buy her (like crayons, paint, etc.) She can earn them by cleaning all the baseboards in the house or sweeping...something that a 4 year old is able to do. Sorry, that was long!
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