A Parental Milestone
Apr. 11th, 2016 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroOn Sunday, I brought ARR to a classmate’s birthday party at a local kid’s art studio. 90% of it went perfectly: He did all the crafts as instructed and loved them; he had no problems with eating the food I had brought (they served cow-milk pizza and cake); he alerted me when he had to go potty and went without problems; and he wished the birthday boy a very nice happy birthday.
That remaining 10% was the “free play” time while the crafts and the lunch were being set up. He got very possessive of three cargo-train cars and a garage that were among the toys, and started trying to grab them from other kids and bawling when asked to share. For the first time I can think of, I had to carry him out of a social event mid-tantrum and let him cool off outside.
Then, because he’s my son and I know our tendencies, I made him eat a fruit squeezer before he was allowed to go back to the toys. Things picked up from there, and improved further when S (the other particularly bold and verbal member of his social circle) left the party early. He and R ended up switching off and playing more nicely, which was probably partially the result of ARR calming down and partially R’s willingness to be mellow and play the sidekick.
Afterwards, we went home and both took a 2.5 hour nap.
In other news, sometime in the last two weeks ARR figured out how to do a forward roll. He did one at My Gym on Saturday, and then did a dozen more (he was totally showing off) on Sunday. I’m planning to move him up to the next level of gym classes in May, because he’s totally rocking this one.
That remaining 10% was the “free play” time while the crafts and the lunch were being set up. He got very possessive of three cargo-train cars and a garage that were among the toys, and started trying to grab them from other kids and bawling when asked to share. For the first time I can think of, I had to carry him out of a social event mid-tantrum and let him cool off outside.
Then, because he’s my son and I know our tendencies, I made him eat a fruit squeezer before he was allowed to go back to the toys. Things picked up from there, and improved further when S (the other particularly bold and verbal member of his social circle) left the party early. He and R ended up switching off and playing more nicely, which was probably partially the result of ARR calming down and partially R’s willingness to be mellow and play the sidekick.
Afterwards, we went home and both took a 2.5 hour nap.
In other news, sometime in the last two weeks ARR figured out how to do a forward roll. He did one at My Gym on Saturday, and then did a dozen more (he was totally showing off) on Sunday. I’m planning to move him up to the next level of gym classes in May, because he’s totally rocking this one.
