Many parents, I'm sure, have found it essential to be able to bribe children in order to help guarantee said child will behave for a few minutes longer or will perform a chore or whatever.
One of the more popular bribes, based on our extensive research on the topic, is something sweet. Cookies, cake, ice cream, etc. Well, not with out little monster. From day one, he's refused to eat sweets...except for one time when we were able to get him to eat a fudgesicle. That was one filthy little experiment.
For some reason or another, he seems to think that chocolate *anything* is dirty. He's probably scarred for life.
Well, at his new school his teacher had a project where they decorated a drawing with marshmallows and because this art project was not done on his teacher's first day, each child was given a MASSIVE pile for decorating...she assumed (quite correctly) that there would be some marshmallows that wouldn't make it past the final phase of quality control and they would have to be eaten by children.
Until he saw how much the other kids were enjoying these little wads of puffed sugar, Hayden wanted nothing to do with them. Now he's a junkie with a serious habit. We're sure that before too long he'll graduate to the hard stuff - gummi bears - but for now we're content to have anything we can use as a carrot on the end of a stick.
Something other than an actual carrot, that is.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Piggies, Pumpkins and Ponies
We took advantage of the University having a home football game and headed to the local pumpkin patch with our friends Jesse, Michael and their mom Liza. The weather was good and we thought we could get some good pictures taken.
Everyone had a good time, but here are the highlights:
Fed goats. We got 75 cents worth of what looked very much like dog food, but it was labeled GOAT FOOD so I'm sure it was fine. The kids had a lot of fun trying to get the goats to pay attention to them. These goats were trained to detect small children, so the boys didn't have much trouble getting the goats to look their way.
Rode a pony. These guys have a pretty good scam going at the pumpkin patch. They have 8 miniature ponies walking around in a circle all day long. You fork over 4 tokens (the non-legal tender equivalent of $4) and they let you ride a pony for 5 minutes or so. Hayden was SUPER patient and waited his turn in line after asking very nicely if it would be ok to ride the pony. He was a little champ and didn't complain at all when the ride was over - he just took it all at face value and put the memories in his pocket and we moved on to the next activity.
Picked pumpkins with his friends. Hayden really seems to enjoy spending time with Jesse and Michael. They took turns pulling the wagon all the way out to the pumpkin patch from the main building (more than 1/4 mile) and they had a great time running around the pumpkins in the dirt.
It's become a bit of a tradition for us to head out there every year and although it's kinda campy and has that feel of an antique store mixed with a carnival, it's a good bit of fun for an hour or two and we're happy to do it as long as we have a wonderful little pony rider, goat feeder and pumpkin picker to take out there.
Everyone had a good time, but here are the highlights:
Fed goats. We got 75 cents worth of what looked very much like dog food, but it was labeled GOAT FOOD so I'm sure it was fine. The kids had a lot of fun trying to get the goats to pay attention to them. These goats were trained to detect small children, so the boys didn't have much trouble getting the goats to look their way.
Rode a pony. These guys have a pretty good scam going at the pumpkin patch. They have 8 miniature ponies walking around in a circle all day long. You fork over 4 tokens (the non-legal tender equivalent of $4) and they let you ride a pony for 5 minutes or so. Hayden was SUPER patient and waited his turn in line after asking very nicely if it would be ok to ride the pony. He was a little champ and didn't complain at all when the ride was over - he just took it all at face value and put the memories in his pocket and we moved on to the next activity.
Picked pumpkins with his friends. Hayden really seems to enjoy spending time with Jesse and Michael. They took turns pulling the wagon all the way out to the pumpkin patch from the main building (more than 1/4 mile) and they had a great time running around the pumpkins in the dirt.
It's become a bit of a tradition for us to head out there every year and although it's kinda campy and has that feel of an antique store mixed with a carnival, it's a good bit of fun for an hour or two and we're happy to do it as long as we have a wonderful little pony rider, goat feeder and pumpkin picker to take out there.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Breakfast for Dinner - Take Two
We're smack-dab in the middle of teaching Hayden right from left. And we're desperately trying to do it without the use of tattoos.
The other day, Dad was running behind schedule for the end-of-the-day pickup from school, so he bypassed Mom's office and went straight for the boy. That went smooth enough, but when Mom eventually did get in the car, Hayden had decided he wanted to go to Perkins for dinner. He wanted eggs and sausage and pancakes.
It was a good idea, and it was Tuesday. That has nothing to do with anything, but Mom and Dad were drawing a blank for dinner ideas, so Perkins it was!!
We got to the restaurant and Hayden had to go potty. So he did. He just didn't tell anyone he was doing it and he wasn't wearing a diaper. We had to take Mr. Tinklepants home which meant we had to scrap the Perkins Project...or so we thought!
The next day, pulling out of the parking lot at school, Hayden played the role of backseat driver. Right, Daddy! Right, Daddy! Straight, Daddy! RIGHT THERE!! (He also knows STOP and Turn around, Daddy!).
We ended up right back where we were 24 hours earlier (Perkins), but this time we went straight to the bathroom to avoid any repeat performances.
Dad let Hayden direct traffic once before and after driving around town for about 20 minutes, Hayden finally ended up directing us down the street where the swimming pool is.
He's a crafty little bugger.
So Hayden finally got his eggs, his sausage, his pancakes, some melon and some milk. He had a great time and Mom and Dad got to talk a bit about some future plans for the boy's schooling. We laughed a bunch and we all enjoyed it very much.
I don't know how often we'll be able/willing to let Hayden guide us around from A to B...especially when *his* B is different than *our* B...but it sure is fun every once in a while to let Hayden choose where we go and what we do.
The other day, Dad was running behind schedule for the end-of-the-day pickup from school, so he bypassed Mom's office and went straight for the boy. That went smooth enough, but when Mom eventually did get in the car, Hayden had decided he wanted to go to Perkins for dinner. He wanted eggs and sausage and pancakes.
It was a good idea, and it was Tuesday. That has nothing to do with anything, but Mom and Dad were drawing a blank for dinner ideas, so Perkins it was!!
We got to the restaurant and Hayden had to go potty. So he did. He just didn't tell anyone he was doing it and he wasn't wearing a diaper. We had to take Mr. Tinklepants home which meant we had to scrap the Perkins Project...or so we thought!
The next day, pulling out of the parking lot at school, Hayden played the role of backseat driver. Right, Daddy! Right, Daddy! Straight, Daddy! RIGHT THERE!! (He also knows STOP and Turn around, Daddy!).
We ended up right back where we were 24 hours earlier (Perkins), but this time we went straight to the bathroom to avoid any repeat performances.
Dad let Hayden direct traffic once before and after driving around town for about 20 minutes, Hayden finally ended up directing us down the street where the swimming pool is.
He's a crafty little bugger.
So Hayden finally got his eggs, his sausage, his pancakes, some melon and some milk. He had a great time and Mom and Dad got to talk a bit about some future plans for the boy's schooling. We laughed a bunch and we all enjoyed it very much.
I don't know how often we'll be able/willing to let Hayden guide us around from A to B...especially when *his* B is different than *our* B...but it sure is fun every once in a while to let Hayden choose where we go and what we do.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Good Manners...In Dad's Face
This morning, Hayden woke up and had some breakfast. He spilled a little yogurt on his favorite pajamas. It was quite an ordeal.
After getting him all cleaned up (and restoring the PJ's to a suitable state of cleanliness) he continued munching on waffles dunked in yogurt. We left him a spare napkin just in case there was another catastrophe. He promptly began tearing the hell out of that little napkin - turning it into napkin confetti.
Dad went over and collected up all the little bits of napkin shrapnel to try and avoid our house sinking further into hovel-hood and as the little bits were going into the garbage, Hayden said, "Dad here more!"
Dad went back over to collect the rest of the napkin remnants and Hayden said, "say peeese!" It is both awful and awesome at the same time to have your 3-year old gently suggest that manners count. Of course, once Dad said 'please' the napkin bits were handed over and Hayden said "Hayden happy!"
Mom and Dad happy too.
After getting him all cleaned up (and restoring the PJ's to a suitable state of cleanliness) he continued munching on waffles dunked in yogurt. We left him a spare napkin just in case there was another catastrophe. He promptly began tearing the hell out of that little napkin - turning it into napkin confetti.
Dad went over and collected up all the little bits of napkin shrapnel to try and avoid our house sinking further into hovel-hood and as the little bits were going into the garbage, Hayden said, "Dad here more!"
Dad went back over to collect the rest of the napkin remnants and Hayden said, "say peeese!" It is both awful and awesome at the same time to have your 3-year old gently suggest that manners count. Of course, once Dad said 'please' the napkin bits were handed over and Hayden said "Hayden happy!"
Mom and Dad happy too.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
A kinder, gentler Hayden
Over the past several months (probably 18, if we're honest) Hayden's been relying on his experiences with James P. Sullivan, Mike Wazowski and the rest of the gang from Monsters, Inc. in order to help express himself at times. If he got angry at something, he would typically growl and yell and make 'angry hands' which looked like claws.
Since Hayden's been at his new school, he's being strongly encouraged (read: forced) to deal with his anger more appropriately. He has to use words, he's not allowed to run away from the situation and he has to apologize when he's wrong.
Today while his class was gathering in the school's foyer before heading upstairs, a little girl said 'Hayden has a red hat!' That little girl took that red hat. Hayden's hat. A month ago, that girl might have possibly gotten a shove, a scream, a shove and a scream, or at the very least 'angry hands'.
It's really great to see him making progress in so many areas: behavior, speech, socializing. It's a shame we couldn't have made this change sooner, but we're really excited about how quickly (and how positively) Hayden's developing now.
Since Hayden's been at his new school, he's being strongly encouraged (read: forced) to deal with his anger more appropriately. He has to use words, he's not allowed to run away from the situation and he has to apologize when he's wrong.
Today while his class was gathering in the school's foyer before heading upstairs, a little girl said 'Hayden has a red hat!' That little girl took that red hat. Hayden's hat. A month ago, that girl might have possibly gotten a shove, a scream, a shove and a scream, or at the very least 'angry hands'.
It's really great to see him making progress in so many areas: behavior, speech, socializing. It's a shame we couldn't have made this change sooner, but we're really excited about how quickly (and how positively) Hayden's developing now.
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