Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Parenting 101

So the other day the kids and I enjoyed a little play date with friends. Half way through the afternoon Little Dude decided to show some unsavory behavior. Simply put he was showing some major attitude and when I tried to correct it he got a little mouthy with me.

I had no patience and with an audience I will admit I felt more flustered. Little Dude on the other hand seemed to gain confidence and appeared to consider our watchers his fan club. So I knew I had to remove him from the limelight. This unfortunately meant picking him up and carrying him kicking and screaming to a private area. He put on quite the show.

However once I removed him from the situation and he calmed down we were able to return to our friends and enjoy the rest of the afternoon without any further incident.

However…shortly after returning to the play date one mother came up to me and asked if I’ve read a specific parenting book. I hadn’t. She told me she would bring it to me next time we got together. She mentioned she found it very useful in being able to correct poor behavior without being aggressive.

Hummmm…Does she think I’m a bad parent? Was removing my son from the situation aggressive? I didn't think so at the time, but now I'm feeling self-conscious.

1 comment:

Casey said...

NOT agressive and sometimes being removed is the best (and only) way to deal with a situation where they are upping the ante for attention from those around. I have an attention seeker child and the only way to get him back into line is to remove him from his audience.

I am however, eager to hear about the parenting book title she will share with you. :)