Mom just left us after visiting for two weeks and we already miss her. It's so nice having her around. She and Axel have so much fun together and are so silly. He cried when she left. Come back soon mom! At least we can look forward to Johan's family visiting soon.
For about a year, we've been experiencing extremely embarrassing we-are-raising-the-most-spoiled-child-on-earth tantrums. They revolve around one thing: buying him toys, candy, etc. when we're out. It didn't matter if we were in the grocery store, the subway, or the airport, he would find something he wanted and wreak havoc when he didn't get it. My Mom witnessed it at its worst...in San Francisco on vacation, Axel was a maniac, throwing himself on the floor left and right, yelling and screaming for this and that. It was obviously our fault. We would give in and buy him things every now and then. But the tantrums got so bad that we would have to throw him over our shoulder, kicking and screaming bloody murder. It was beyond embarrassing. I could imagine what all of the people watching were thinking: "Those parents sure spoiled that little hell raiser". And they, to some extent, were right. We needed to learn to say no. And do it consistently.
So one day recently, Johan and I came upon an idea how to cut the tantrums and quit spoiling our child. We all sat down and had a family discussion. Our new rule was that, from then on, we would buy NO MORE TOYS. Gasp! Yes, that's right. No more. The exceptions were birthdays and Christmas, which we also have gift limitations on, but that's another story. So since we were no longer going to buy Axel toys, if he wanted something, he was going to have to buy it himself. He would have to help me clean the house, pick up his room, help cook dinner, help with the gardening, etc. And the great thing is, he is really good at all of these things! But he had to work and save up his money.
And do you know what happened next? The kid owned up! This has created an amazing change in him. He still asks for us to buy him things when we're out now and then, but then we ask him "Do you have your money?" and "Do you have enough?" He is so proud to be working to save up his money. He is currently saving up to buy a Darth Vader Star Wars light saber, and he's almost there! We were at the mall the other day and he almost had a breakdown over that light saber, but I was able to talk to him about our deal, that we could come back after he had saved up enough money. Amazing! No tantrum! It's amazing the attitude shift when you're forced to work for what you want, instead of always being given whatever you want. It's kind of like real life.
Next issue to tackle...keep the kid in his bed an entire night. Until next time.....
