A little while ago I posted about putting a light in Jeremiahs room on a timer. The idea was that he learn that even though he wakes up he should play in his bed until the light goes on.
Guess what!
It works!
I was prepared for battle. But the whole process has been fairly easy and with little fuss. Jeremiah seemed to get the concept right away and seems to enjoy his early morning play time. When I am in the bathroom preparing myself for the day I can hear him chattering and singing to himself. So sweet. The timer on the light is set for 7:00am. Some mornings he wakes up at 6:30, some mornings he wakes up when the light comes on, and once he slept right through it until 7:30!
Who ever thought of this was a genious!
Now - another topic.
Yesterday was a tough day. I think we are hitting a stage where the lack of words for emotions that he feels causes frustration so squeals, foot stomping, and other forms of squeaking and vocal exclamations are more common now. And at least once a day we have a sit down in the floor and cry episode. So the challenge for me is to keep my cool and try to be consistent in my dealings with this behavior. It is not easy since consistency is not my strong suit. I mostly try and give him my full attention and use words to try and get him to tell me what he wants or what he is feeling. I want to give him the tools to express himself, not just punish him for negative behavior since the root of his behavior is probably frustration. Any ideas from you veteran moms (or dads) out there?
5 comments:
Do what we did: beat the h*** out of him.
Dad ;-)
Prayer and consistancy definitely are the most BENEFICIAL things you can do. I know for me it takes more time to deal with situations, so it can be frustrating at the moment, but over the long run it is so much better. I just have to not be lazy and deal with the behavior. The thing is, through us God uses His spirit to teach our children. I have to rely on that, because apart from that I stink at being a mom! Praying for you in trying times as a parent...pray for me in mine too!
I could always give you the suggestions that i give the parents i see but most of all we will pray for grace! We love you all!
Dad - ha ha, i guess you think you're funny. :-)
Amy - thanks for the prayers I am calling you this week. promise!
Moni - any advice is welcome -even if you are not a mom. :-)
Rinnie - it is nothing special. just one of those automatic lamp timer things that you can buy at Wal-mart or Lowe's. You set the time you want the lamp to go on in the morning and plug it in! Cost me $7.00! Awesome. You should definitely try it. I wish I has tried it earlier when Jeremiah was waking up at 5:30. :-)
In a course at work I am learning about the phases of demtie speciacally of people with Down Syndrom. (sorry for all the spelling mistakes). The material emphasises that for a person to understand him/herself , what is happening around them and how they respond must be given the room and tools to identify their own emotions. When a person does not have the ability to think logically because of age, mental disability, emotions are to get a grip on life.
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