Number 6 is my mama’s boy.
He’s cuddly and snuggly, he still gives me a kiss and a hug wherever I happen to be saying goodbye to him, even at school in front of his friends.
He’s an emotional kid.
So along with those good, cuddly emotions, come the opposite ones.
When he gets upset, he gets UPSET.
And he shows his anger just as much as he shows his love and affection.
It can be pretty frustrating for me, especially since he’s a smart kid, and I know I’ve “taught” him well.
When he gets super pissed and reacts by screaming, and stomping and very often, throwing things, I often find it difficult to keep my cool.
Yesterday I was going through the papers in Number 6’s take home folder and I came across this paper:
When I got to the bottom part, my heart sank a little bit.
During the new year, I want to do these things better at home:
- listining to mom
- control my madness
CONTROL MY MADNESS.
Ugh. My heart sank a little when I read that.
Because what I realized for the first time, really, is that Number 6 is aware of his reactions when he’s angry.
And he’s bothered by it.
I suppose I could send him to his room when he gets mad and launches a backpack across the room. I could take away his Kindle for the weekend. I could yell at him.
I could make him feel bad about his behavior.
But it’s evident he already feels bad about this aspect of himself.
Plus shaming him won’t help him find ways to control his madness.
Number 6 clearly needs some help coming up with some strategies to deal with his anger.
The next time he loses it when he gets frustrated or angry or upset, instead of throwing that right back in his face, I’ll remember this paper.
Then I’ll help him calm down, and once he’s not so angry, we’ll talk about some things he can do when he gets super mad, and maybe we’ll make a wheel of choice together that we can both look at the next time he’s having a meltdown.
Because being a kid is hard.
And I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I could use some help controlling my madness, too.
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Kids really know themselves so well!
Oh wow! You have no idea what a relief it is to read about a child that fits your own description! People say it all the time that you’re not the only one etc, but it’s usually something small that’s the same and when you say something and they’re like oh no he/she doesn’t do that! But you are actually describing my son! And you’ve made me see things so differently. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. Vx