Monday, November 19, 2007

Moody Blues

My mind is void of deep thoughts tonight, so I give you a snapshot of life with Calvin.

During his bath tonight, Calvin got in trouble for dumping water out of the tub when I had just told him not to do so. In the middle of his punishment, Calvin cried, "I don't like the mood I am in! I don't want to be in this kind of mood! Make the mood go away!"

Melt my heart! How do you discipline someone like that? We instantly wrapped him in a towel and cuddled with him on the couch to make his "mood" go away. It's amazing what comes from the mouth of a three-year-old who can articulate like an adult. It sure gets him out of a lot of punishment because we can talk things through with him.

7 comments:

Deb said...

I'm with him today.

TwoSquareMeals said...

Deb,
Don't you wish it were as easy as a cuddle on the couch? I can't believe all you're doing right now. Take a break, have a glass of wine, put on some good mood music, and rest a bit.

Nora said...

That is AMAZING! If I could raise my bubba to me able to identify feelings like that I will have succeeded as a mother. Congratulations :-)

And yum on the towel snuggle.

TwoSquareMeals said...

Nora Bee, the funny thing is that I am not sure how he learned to identify feelings like that. He was just born with this amazing, sensitive, intuitive brain. I don't think Hobbes is gonna be like that at all. Hopefully his brother will teach him a thing or two about articulating his feelings.

Farrah said...

What an precious but intense little man! That would take all the mental energy I have, I think. I don't know how you do it! You are an amazing mama!

Anonymous said...

I like to think he doesn't so much get out of trouble as process feelings verbally and so help himself. What a lucky little boy that he can always express himself, rather than having to hit someone.

TwoSquareMeals said...

Emily R,
That is definitely what I meant. We are able to deal with discipline issues on a whole different level with him because he can tell us why he is acting like he is. It's been really helpful as we start dealing with discipline with Hobbes, who is the hitting, biting, screaming type. We are already aware that there are some complicated emotions going on behind all of that and can try to deal with those instead of just controlling behavior.