Monday, November 17, 2008

Yes, but he’s a sweet little imp...

Ok, so by now you all know of my discipline dilemma: how do you discipline a kid who'll have a heart attack if he cries too hard? Well, perhaps this isn't such a problem as I'd previously thought. Let me tell the tale:

The other day, Asher and Blithe were playing in the living room. Well, to be honest, Asher was playing. Blithe was colouring with her pencil crayons. Which she keeps in a lovely white basket. Which was, at the time, on the coffee table. Right in front of Asher. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this.

He dumped them all on the floor.

And she didn't appreciate that.

"Mommy, Asher dumped my pencil crayons on the floor!" (Ok, I'm trying to get her to stop tattling and deal with these issues herself, but I also need to teach Asher, so I went along this time.)

"Asher," said I, "that was not nice. You help Blithe pick them back up."

Well, he didn't like that idea. I ended up helping Blithe pick them up. Ah, well. But...

When I said, "that was not nice," he looked at Blithe and signed "sorry." So she said, "I forgive you, Asher."

"Hugs?" he asked.

And they hugged.

And I smiled.

So, he still hasn't gotten this idea of fixing what he did, but he's really gotten the hang of fixing the relationship, and what's more important? Some pencil crayons on the floor, or being right with his big sister? You see? He is a sweetie, even if he is the most impish sweetie I know.

2 comments:

Wendy said...

Oh my gosh, he's such a sweetie! How heart melting is that? What a nice story - you're doing a great job with your kids and teaching them what's really important!

On another note - does Asher cry much? Christopher doesn't have the same concerns around his crying as Asher, but we found from the time he was a newborn that he barely cried. Whenever he did he'd sleep for hours and even now he barely cries more than a few seconds about anything. I just figured he decided it wasn't worth the effort (or I had been blessed with the worlds most easy going child). Your comments on Asher not being allowed to cry just made me think.

Wendy

Foodie Mom said...

You are raising beautiful children, H. I'm taking notes.