This weekend was not easy… the clocks were turned back and everyone supposedly got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning. Someone forgot to tell my son! (And every other child)
Normally Matt wakes up around 6 am and can be persuaded to settle down for another 45 minutes or so of quiet time – he talks to himself, sings, reads a book, etc. This gives me (and on the weekends, my husband) time to wake up, have a cup of tea, basically get going before having to start running. Not on Sunday. 5:05 am. And there was no quiet time… he wanted up, he wanted breakfast, he wanted stories read to him. By 9 am he was starting to get tired and getting a bit cranky. Our plans to go hiking were nixed – he’d never make it (and unfortunately he won’t nap in the car or child carrier at this point but that’s another story).
So we decided to go to Chapter’s. We’d be close enough to quickly get home when he was “done” and in the meantime the toys and books would distract him sufficiently to avoid a morning of continuous meltdowns. We got, there even before the doors were even open but fortunately the attached Starbucks was. Matt ran around telling everyone the book store wasn’t open and that keys were needed to open the doors. We weren’t alone – there were at least three other couples anxiously waiting for the doors to open to provide the distraction of their Kid’s Zone. The doors opened and there was a sigh of relief as the children busied themselves with books, trains and animals. More families arrived, coffee in hand, kids in tow – it was a bit of a party. A couple of hours later we carried a very tired boy out – we had made it through the morning (and as a bonus I was able to cross a couple of things off the Christmas list). The hardest part was over. After nap time a trip to the park, a couple of errands, dinner and a bath took us almost to the regular bedtime.
This morning was better and I’m hoping by tomorrow the new time will be routine.
How did you and yours adjust to the time change?
The Big Picture 
Is your spirited son into his “no’s” of the terrible two’s? It’s a developmental thing, but one that still needs to be addressed. Two basic ways to approach meltdowns (to reduce them): A) Holding your child very close to you, make eye contact and being very gentle, but not allowing the child to kick/bite/hurt you, until your child has become calm and willing to snuggle. This has helped a lot of children learn to have fewer meltdowns. It is a very gentle way to love a child through his inability to self-soothe. B) For some children, who have meltdowns to get their way, perhaps you can take away the audience? The child needs to be placed in a safe environment (his room?) and allowed to ‘vent’ until he is calm. But once you start either A or B, you must continue, so your child learns the lesson of self-soothing–one with your direct help, one without an audience. I know this is too brief to be very instructive, but hopefully something will be an idea to pursue. The very best to you and your son!
Thanks for your thoughts. We were lucky and didn’t have to endure a meltdown this weekend – probably because we ensured that he was occupied at the crucial time. Our favourite ways of making sure that he doesn’t have meltdowns are to ensure that he isn’t hungry or tired, has an outlet for his energy and minimize time in places that can overwhelm his system. We also have been working with him since he was about 6 months old to recognize when he is feeling “bad”. Our son is now a champ… he knows when he needs quiet time and will go to his bedroom, curl up with a blanket, a stuffy and/or a book and when he’s out and knows he’s done he asks to “go home”.
Chapters eh? Will remember that 🙂
Your blog is off to a great start Suzi. Hopefully Matt is used to the time change buy now. Our little Eugene is not, but slight improvements each day. That’s all I can ask of a 6 month old.
Zibi aka. Mrs. Lord 😉
Almost there with the time change. Chapters is a great place especially on a cold/rainy day or any day you need to kill an hour. There’s coffee for you and toys for the little one, usually there’s others there with the same idea which provides playmates and adult conversation. Besides anywhere that encourages books and reading is great!
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