Throwing in some fun pictures......because we all needed to know Joanna is queen ;) Riding around in her royal laundry basket.
Now- no comments please......yes sometimes we are a little twisted. Sorry if you didn't know this. This is my hubby who melted chocolate on a diaper.....and making Andrew go nuts! he he he he he....yes we are those parents. It is only funny for Andrew because our other kiddos just aren't as worried by bodily functions.
This was an event we were invited to attend. It was for
Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza.
If you note on the picture above- there is fire shooting out. That was supposed to be a hot air balloon and they were going to drop mini Murph pizzas from the hot air balloon with cute little parachutes. Unfortunately the weather started getting yucky and they couldn't do the balloon.....as you can see our kiddos had fun with the parachutes anyway......and we walked away with 11 mini murph pizzas!!!! SCORE! Oh and coupons for more for free too.
So our kiddos had fun anyway and we had free pizzas!!!!
So the next day we made up our pizzas and added some fun ingredients! We had a blast- so it was a success!!!! :)
OK so today I want to cover what our kiddos need. You may be thinking I know what they need a good punishment, or ?? whatever. What if though our kids sometimes need tools? We talk about tools all the time for parenting. So why not our kids?
Sarah is modeling one of the calm down tools. Put your finger under your nose and above your lip. Press and count slowly to 10.
Another calm down tool......put both hands over your eyes with your palms on your cheek bones......press and count slowly to 10.
Or take some deep breaths. As many as is needed to regain control.
We have added a few that were not specifically talked about.........like walking away.......sometimes we visually need a break to regain control of our bodies and minds.
Sometimes with sensory issues- and they talked about that a lot, but that could easily be a whole other conference!!!!! These are our new "headphones" they are just as easy as ear plugs and you don't have to worry about trying to us ear plugs. I ordered 4, and so far in the last week our kiddos have used them a lot!
Oh, and bring on the fidget toys........can really help soothe and reconnect their brains so they can reconnect to you!!! There are many we also have plastic air filled with 2 different sensory sides- seat things. He he he he....totally technical terms here! Velcro is great, play dough, soft plush pillows, beans and rice tub- have all those too! This can satisfy their needs for sensory input- which can look an awful like disobedience. When your child naturally craves having input- or not having more input.....it is an actual need. **Oh and things like a weighted blanket can really give kids the feeling they had when they should have been wrapped up in a blanket and snuggled as an infant. We don't have one yet......but will.
You can get these on Amazon.com, chewlery.com, babybabyohbaby.com (baby massage- great way to connect), weightedblanket.net, sensorystories.com (lots of stories about this issue) and plenty of other sites! In fact if you know of others- please let me know!!! I want to add to my list :).
Never underestimate the NEED for water and a snack!!!! MOST PEOPLE on the planet are dehydrated- MOST!!! If your urine is yellow- you need more water! This greatly affects our ability to make decisions and focus.....and it is a healthy thing that we in the U.S. do not use near enough.
Snacks are just a little bit of something that can keep your kids going. I - in the last year have really found my need for more sugar stability- making sure my stress is not coming from my need to just eat something. It's true! If it is true for me.....how much more for my kiddos.
There are many other things you can do "calm down" and refocus- what are some you do in your home?
Empowered To Connect Part 1
Empowered To Connect Part 2
Empowered To Connect Part 3
Empowered To Connect Part 5
Just a question...how do you get your kids to use them (or does this work better with older kids)? If I gave those things to my 5-year-old to help him calm down he would throw them at me (or his siblings). Same with the calming exercises (which I know work because I've done "strong sitting" and it is SO relaxing!)...but he refuses to do them. even if I'm just noticing that we're getting agitated...any requests on my part lead to escalation on his (I do try to say "if you want to, you can do "x" to help avoid the escalation...no demand from me means nothing to push back against.) Any tips for getting them to WANT to do them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insights and tips. Definitely will help. :)
ReplyDelete