After dinner last night, we went to the grocery store so that I could get ice cream, my favorite toppings for it, and bread. While we were walking through the store, Charlie said, "mentos." I stopped and said, "what," and he repeated it. I said, "where did you see that," knowing that he doesn't know about that kind of candy (I've never given it to him). He said, "Right here," and pointing to a sign, said, "see, Mom, Mentos," and then underscoring the word with his finger, said, "Men - tos." I was so proud of him...you see, reading is difficult for him and he prefers not to even try to read aloud, so for him to read the word on a box was amazing....and it's not even a word wall word! That just made my whole day and I needed something to do that because Marcie had been a bear at dinner and I had made my nieces cry, so I wasn't a happy camper going into the grocery store. Then, later on after the kids were in bed, I had some of my ice cream and felt even better!
This morning after putting Charlie and Marcie on the bus, one of my neighbors walked by with her dog (retriever type dog). Kyle just stood there and Joanna kept backing up trying to get away from the dog. The dog was not close to her nor interested in her at all but she was terrified. Kyle, who is also scared of animals, decided that the dog must be okay and followed my neighbor's lead in extending his hand to pet the dog. Then, he got brave and allowed the dog to lick his hand. Well, Kyle was won over and then started talking to my neighbor about the dog and was really interested in her. Then, the dog licked Kyle's face and he started giggling. When the dog licked him again (on the nose), he was really enthralled. By this time Joanna was crying and my neighbor and I were both trying to help her understand that the dog wouldn't hurt her. I asked her if the dog had bitten her ("No," she says), if the dog had hurt her ("no") or if the dog was even close to her (again, "no"). I told her that the dog was friendly and liked Kyle and that I would not allow her to be around the dog if I were afraid she would get hurt. (By the way, she never saw animals as pets when she was in China and she has never been hurt by a dog or cat since she's been in the U.S., so I have no idea why this fear is so extreme). Then, Kyle took her by the hand and said, "It's okay, Joanna, the dog is nice," and at one point, he was holding both of her hands. It was so sweet! She just cried harder so we left. I praised Kyle for being brave and for figuring out how to make friends with a dog. I told him that I was so proud of him, and he, of course, being a true child, asked if that meant he could have a special treat after supper tonight. I think he has earned that! :) As for Joanna, she cried again at daycare and I made her sit in the classroom by herself for a minute to regain her composure (I was with her), then reminded her again that she wasn't hurt. After that on the way to work, I wondered why I spent so much time trying to rationalize with a 4 year old!
All is not lost for Joanna, though. Last night at Wendy's she did order her own kid size Frosty and remembered to tell the waiter that she wanted chocolate. Kyle then paid for his and Joanna's Frosties while I sat at the table. Maybe I shouldn't expect 2 new positive behaviors that close together. Of course, I may find out in the future that she will need therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder because I wouldn't allow her to run away from the dog. Guess I better save some money for that. Sigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment