Friday, August 05, 2005
The Power Of The Inchworm
Phil has a hard life, at least he thinks so. He's been having serious meltdowns of late when he doesn't get his way or reality doesn't meet his expectations. Crying, shouting, roundhouse punching: typical five-year-old stuff.
Caving-in to his demands isn't really an option to calm him down. Compromise solutions get floated, but he rarely accepts them (hoping, I'm sure, for the whole enchilada instead of the proffered budget nacho plate). Ignoring him until he burns out only draws irritated glares when we're in public.
So it's nice to have something that works, at least to get him back to a semi-rational (for a five-year-old) state of mind. Cue "The Inchworm Song"
This song turns Phil to a limp noodle in under four seconds. It's like the Vulcan nerve pinch, but won't prompt a visit from Child Protective Sevices.
Just because I'm a great dad, I let him pick the starting number for the addition sequence. Yesterday he chose zero and told me I was doing it wrong when the number never got any bigger. What are they teaching in Pre-K these days (mostly the alphabet, it turns out).
The downside is he's begun to use it as a stalling technique at bedtime. The last two nights he's been out of bed within ten minutes of being tucked in, complaining of "bad dreams" and asking for the inchworm song to help calm him down. Still, it works and he hasn't continued game playing after I go in and sing it to him. If he keeps it up I might start thinking about applying the Vulcan nerve pinch at tuck-in time, but let's not go tattling that to CPS, huh?
Caving-in to his demands isn't really an option to calm him down. Compromise solutions get floated, but he rarely accepts them (hoping, I'm sure, for the whole enchilada instead of the proffered budget nacho plate). Ignoring him until he burns out only draws irritated glares when we're in public.
So it's nice to have something that works, at least to get him back to a semi-rational (for a five-year-old) state of mind. Cue "The Inchworm Song"
This song turns Phil to a limp noodle in under four seconds. It's like the Vulcan nerve pinch, but won't prompt a visit from Child Protective Sevices.
Just because I'm a great dad, I let him pick the starting number for the addition sequence. Yesterday he chose zero and told me I was doing it wrong when the number never got any bigger. What are they teaching in Pre-K these days (mostly the alphabet, it turns out).
The downside is he's begun to use it as a stalling technique at bedtime. The last two nights he's been out of bed within ten minutes of being tucked in, complaining of "bad dreams" and asking for the inchworm song to help calm him down. Still, it works and he hasn't continued game playing after I go in and sing it to him. If he keeps it up I might start thinking about applying the Vulcan nerve pinch at tuck-in time, but let's not go tattling that to CPS, huh?
Mikesell
1 Snarky Remarks:
lindaruth, at 2:31 PM
You have patience and originality, I can tell. Phil's a lucky kid.
Linda