W. has problems with impulse control sometimes. He'll be fine for months and then blam, people (mostly me) start gettin' hit. I'm about 80% sure this coincides with physical growth spurts - not that it's an excuse, but I think it's the reason.
And so, along with the negative consequences (which are completely ineffective when used alone with my particular kid), we reintroduce the concept of the Super Reward - 24 hours of no hitting, no hurting and no being mean and he gets to pick out a medium-sized toy. That's how we transition out of these phases. It goes a lot more quickly this way.
This afternoon, he said he was ready to try for one. For the next two hours, he sat in his play area playing quietly, except that every five minutes or so, he'd sing out, "So far, so gooo-ood! I am just putting balls in dis truck and dere is no being mean at all."
And you know it's so important not to laugh. And you don't laugh. And you wonder if you will rupture an internal organ, with the not laughing.
And that's pretty much how life goes, until suddenly he's two inches taller and much more pleasant.
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If you're in the northern part of the Los Angeles area and looking for something to do tomorrow, the Multicultural Festival at Moorpark College is free and might be interesting. W.'s favorite band (we like them too!), Masanga Marimba Ensemble, is playing in the late AM, and there's lots of other musical contents that looks interesting, along with things such as lectures on bird flu that we will probably not attend.
Masanga has a few other free shows coming up, as well. They're well worth checking out.