Occurred March 1st 2019.

We’ve had a rough few days recently, lots of tears and a lot of emotional stuff happening for my son. Tonight was no different, he refused to eat dinner, cried because I said we were not reading a book for the 12 time and then splashed water everywhere while brushing his teeth. He loves running the water and splashing.

We (I) finished. He didn’t want to leave the bathroom.

I picked him up, moved him and closed the door switching off the light. And of course he cried. And cried. And cried.

Then it clicked.

Rewind – we had a do over!

I got down to his level, apologised for rushing him and told him we would try again. He got back up on his stool by the sink, ran the water and waited. I think he was a bit confused.

I asked him to shut the water off and help me turn off the light. It was magical! He shut off the water, got down off his little step and said “up” so he could read the light switch. He helped me close the door and said goodbye to the bathroom.

We carried on much happier and I could breathe a little easier knowing I had succeeded in helping him overcome at least 1 of the many hardships of his daily toddler life.

My takeaway point:

I learned that do-overs can save a situation. Paying attention and helping my son feel in control moves us away from near meltdowns to a way of working that may take 5 minutes longer, but that it keeps the peace.