As I said in my last post I love shoes. But my son hates them. He refuses to wears shoes. And I mean REFUSES! It all started when he was a fat baby. No shoes fit his chubby feet. Baby clothe makers do not keep in mind fat babies. Because of this James has grown so accustom to being barefoot. But now he's old enough that he needs to wear shoes when we are outside or running errands.
So the incident happened when we were at Wal-Mart. I figured that we should get a pair of shoes for James since they were so cheap. We turned down the aisle and James was panicking and the meltdown tantrum began at just the mere sight of the shoes. (As I said, he hates shoes). I picked up a pair and headed toward him with the shoes ignoring his first outburst, but the screaming and kicking continued. I was mortified. I didn't want to raise my voice at him because I can't stand those moms that are like yelling at their kids and the entire store can hear them. But I also couldn't let him scream and be such a brat. We quickly picked a pair and got out of Dodge. What do you do when your kid tantrums in public? And especially when they are too young to reason with (or bribe)?
Also, recently he has figured out that food comes from the fridge. So when he wants something he goes over to the fridge and starts whining and trying to open it. It's kind of funny. But I'm not sure how to react because I don't want to encourage whining, but he could be hungry... Any suggestions!? But despite his few quirks and tantrums he is a nice and fun boy!
oh my goodness christina, he is so cute! And I have no suggestions....but I could use some tips so send them my way :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute pouty face!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a tough situation. I can imagine how frustrating it would be for both of you. Now that you have shoes (do the ones you buy, fit?) I would help him learn to like them. ie: when you put his shoes on, reward him with whatever he likes, playing with a favorite toy, going on a walk, a treat, whatever. At first he may only keep them on for a minute but after a few weeks you can work him up to a whole hour. I don't know, it's just an idea. The only experience I have with this is that a kindergartener in my class always, ALWAYS, took off his shoes and we worked on that. I can tell you more about what I did with him if you like. But each kid is different and doesn't like shoes for different reasons. GOOD LUCK!
Thanks Nicole! I hope you are doing well with your little guy!
ReplyDeleteCharisse, I will have to give the that a try. He loves to go to the park, so next time we go I will make him wear them there. I'll let you know how it works out!
you ignore them haha, seriously, fae throws fits all the time, sometimes I give in, but most of them time i ignore her, then she learns that she can't act like that, and even if she does, it doesn't matter she is STILL sitting in the cart, and we are STILL shopping (or whatever) its embarrassing, but it is working for us! (It's less embarrassing than those parents who do scream at their kids...)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Target has these shoes, the ones Fae wears ever day, they are like slippers but she wears them outside, maybe he would like them because they are soft, like being barefoot, I think they are $15
Erica, Fae is so cute and I doubt she would misbehave while shopping! I think James misses her already! I'll have to check out those shoes from Target! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteAddison has full-on, major tantrums on occasion -- but of course, she's usually a perfect angel :) Some experts think, and this is the camp that I subscribe to, that tantrums are as distressing for the kid as for the parents -- they're emotional and upset and feel out of control. I try to respect that by staying with her, usually crouching down so I'm right at eye-level. I don't give her what she wants, but I say things like, "Hey, I'm right here if you need a hug. I'm trying to help you if I can." Otherwise, though, I just ride it out and it's definitely embarrassing sometimes. She first started these type of tantrums in June, and they are much shorter-lived now, so I think, I hope we're making progress.
ReplyDeleteAs for the whining thing, honestly, that is my achilles heel -- I kind of hate whining and so I kind of lose my patience with it quickly. So we were aggressive in teaching her to say "please." Since she wasn't the fastest talker, we taught her the sign for it (now she says the actual word). After months of reinforcement, she still starts off whining, but will quickly stop and say please when prompted. Your little guy is sooo cute, by the way (thank goodness kids are, right?)!!