Lesson #485: Empathy and protesting

Tonight on The Current Lifestyle: Lesson #485 Empathy and protesting
Empathy:

Hey there my fellow readers! I do hope your holiday season has been good to you. Whether it's over or still being celebrated, I do hope it was filled with joyful moments. Ours was, thanks for mindfully asking. :-)

Tonight's topics are quite special. It marked a milestone in learning for not only my toddler chunk, but also has taught me a little bit too. Now, when I write this, I write this with a humorous side. I don't write for any ill intent or to embarrass my chunk of love. So, please enjoy the making light of a situation in the journey of motherhood.




This morning went off quite well. Chunky P was happy as a clam when she woke up and was just as excited about breakfast. Since she was spending the day with me instead of going to daycare, I decided that it would be nice to play with her after morning cartoons. Foreshadowing............NICE. After the same Mickey Mouse episode that we've seen over 1 million times was over, I asked Chunky P if she wanted to play a game with mommy. She was delighted and said, "Okay, mommy sit here." So I grabbed HiHo Cherry-O and sat on the floor where she was.
We have been using this game as our introduction to board games for her because the game doesn't have many rules and its an easy counting game. Seriously, the highest number you need to know is 4. So, we've played this before, it's not new to Chunky P. The object of the game is to be the first to get all of your cherries into your basket. In the game there is a space on the spinner where instead of collecting cherries for your basket, things happen that make you put back a cherry/ies. It was my turn and the spinner landed on the dog. That means you put your cherry back. THIS IS WHERE ALL HELL BROKE LOSE!

damn dog

Who would have known, that my chunky P was going to show that she was indeed learning to empathize with others when mommy had to place a cherry back onto her tree. She couldn't move on. I couldn't get her to move past the fact that the dog ate my cherry. It was comical at first. She just kept saying over and over, "the dog ate mommy's cherry." As I stifle my gutter mind of laughter there, I tried giving her some hugs and telling her it was okay. Then when I knew that was a lost cause we cleaned up the game, without finishing, and I went to the bathroom. I was followed into the bathroom by a crying toddler still stating, "the doggy ate mommy's cherry." I tried to tell her mid pee, mind you, that mommy wasn't crying or upset that the dog ate her cherry. Nope, not good enough. I even told her after washing my hands that maybe the dog was really hungry and needed the cherry. Nope. This went on for 45 MINUTES!!! Finally I couldn't take it anymore and when we went upstairs to brush our teeth I told her, "I know you're sad, but if you're going to continue to be sad, you'll have to be sad in your room." So, I took her to her room and left her there to figure out whatever it was that was so traumatizing about that game. I left her door open, 3 minutes later, I have a tooth brush in my mouth and she comes into our bathroom ALL SMILES and says, "HI."

feeling sad for mommy

Now, after this I had a lovely visit scheduled with my therapist. The visit was already planned, but I did share our morning adventure with her. I was enlightened to other ways that I could help Chunky P move through her feelings, without making her feel as if they aren't correct. One way is to say, "I see it's really difficult to be you at this moment. Do you want to talk about this or tell me what is bothering you?" Or, "I see you are having a difficult time, is that true?" I was told this could make her cry louder and/or more but that it should help her feel secure and move through solving the issue at hand faster. I'll give it a whirl next time, because we all know, there will be a next time.

Protesting:
As our day slowly got better, I made the mistake of thinking the evening should turn out well despite our little meltdown. Well, apparently that's where I went wrong. Just ask the microwave. Once a week, we have left overs. It saves us money, I throw out less food, I also feel like I'm teaching Chunky P the lesson of being thankful for the food you have to eat. Well, I guess the microwave just couldn't take it anymore or thought my cooking was just too horrid for the other members of my family to ingest. As soon as I put the last plate into it, shut the door and selected my time, the thing sent out sparks and smoke and died. Yes, I checked for metal, and the sparks were coming from the bottom of the microwave not inside. I've lived many places, used many microwaves, and never had this ever happened before. I mentally thanked the microwave for it's years of service to our home as my husband removed it from its place and told me it must have short circuited. "I'm just going to have a bowl of cereal for dinner while the rest of you eat the hot food the microwave

decided was eatable." (Because I'm that mom who heats her food last)





Ahh, what a perfect ending to a perfect day. To be completely honest, I managed to get through this day without losing my cool. Amazing I know. So if you want to, leave a comment about your life adventures with lesson #485 Empathy and Protesting. I'd love to read it! Or, leave me a review on your microwave since I need a new one.


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