An example of this happened a couple of weeks ago. We were at the city park, playing on the playground there. He was really enjoying the sliding board. Up the ladder, down the slide, up the ladder, down the slide, over and over, as fast as he could go. So we gave him an advance notice that soon it would be time to leave. That brought a frown to his face and I quickly realized that if we tried to force him away from the sliding board, he was going to put up a big fight. It could have been a very ugly scene indeed - a great big eight year old kid kicking and screaming as if being kidnapped off the playground by his own parents!
Fortunately we make a point of carrying pocket change for just such an emergency! Instead of making a big scene about leaving the playground, I said "Okay, it's time to go buy a Sprite." He was hot, tired, and apparently thirsty, because he came along with us without the least bit of trouble. Of course, we made good on our promise and stopped at a soda pop machine on the way home.
If he is stuck on a certain particular toy, we have learned to buy up two or three of the same toy and keep them stashed away for "just in case." We learned to do that very early on when we wound up having to buy the same apple-shaped teething ring on three separate occasions. Otherwise you have the lovely experience of listening to heartbroken crying for hours, even days, on end.
Web Page Author: Janet Lawrence
Snail Mail: 878 Osborne Road, Hazel, KY 48039
Updated: 8/16/98
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