Holiday fun after SS stopped complaining...
I wanted to do something really fun for July 4th because fireworks are out of the question with DH. Anyway I chose to take the kids to a waterpark. I loved this place when I was a teenager and I thought the kids would too. When we got there SS started whining he was afraid of heights. Huh? Since when?
MIL took him to a similar place last summer and said he and his cousin rode every ride in there and loved it.
DH got pissy because SS was complaining and only wanted to go to the wave pool. DS5 on the other hand wanted to ride everything he was tall enough to ride like 5 times.
DH said he was mad because he felt like SS was doing the thing his mom does when she feels like she's not getting enough attention. When DH thinks SS is acting like cuntalotapus he gets kind of mean so I told him I would handle it.
I pulled SS aside and told him "Look, I picked this place because I thought we would all have fun. I'm sorry its not fun for you but you are not going to ruin this for everyone else with your whining and complaining. For whatever reason you have decided you are afraid of heights, fine. You can ride the rides or you can sit on the bench but you will stop complaining."
He sat on the bench for awhile and I guess it got to him that his 5 year old brother was going on all these crazy rides. So he decided to try one of the rides where we all got in the same floaty thing. On the way up he started complaining. I asked him what the problem was he said "we're really high up" No we weren't -like 2 flights of stairs. Please. I told him "I'm afraid of heights too. Terrified actually, but I never let it get in my way. Learn to appreciate the view from the top." He went on the ride, realized it was awesome and he stopped complaining.
Now he's talking about when we go back. What the hell was the "I'm afraid of heights thing about"? Is he that much like BM that he needs constant attention? Seriously, SIL asked BM to be in her wedding and he pouted the day of the wedding because SIL was getting all the attention. How do we break this habit?
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Comments
I had hyperactivity as a
I had hyperactivity as a child and had some behavioural problems including imo attention seeking. My mother used to do what you did, you pull them quietly to one side and tell the child to cut it out, if its not possible to completely ignore them should it continue (I suggest ignoring them in most cases) as perhaps they are acting out and ruining someones party for example, then you say "ss if you continue after this warning, then when we get home you will go straight to your room minus the electronics" and then follow through. I would also say embarassing kids is an effective tool for them to realise when they are being silly, so if they are humiliating you with refusing to snap out of this then you say to your friends/family within ss earshot "sorry for ss behaviour, he is being incredible immature for his age and he has been told if he is going to behave like a toddler then its straight to bed. As he is refusing to listen, I guess he wil be going to bed then."
What I mean by ignoring is completely blanking them, my mother has been known to do this as she refuses to provide even negative attention, as it feeds the beast!
I think you handled it really
I think you handled it really really well. I hope the next time I have a similarly annoying kid on my hands that I can keep calm and help them help EVERYONE have fun as well as you just did!
LOL thanks-I had to take a
LOL thanks-I had to take a deep breath before I walked over to where he was standing to talk to him. I wanted to wring his neck. I was ticked because I do think he was doing it on purpose and I really don't think he's scared of heights. He hurts himself a lot when he's with BM and I think it's to get her attention and she babys him.