My husband has started having our 2-year old take a deep breath when he is starting to get upset in a way only a 2-year old does. I tried it today and it helped! It gave him a second to calm down and then we were able to talk through what was going on.
Maybe I need to start trying it on myself :)
What do you do to help your kids calm down?
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this is a great idea amber. i love the way you described yourself in the first post. very real and very appreciated.
ReplyDeletei'm not sure if i have a solution for the first stages of getting upset, but i do know i miss the days of just handing him the binki. we've been without it for a few weeks now and that itself deserves it's own post!
A technique we used with our oldest we called "taking a minute". It wasn't time-out or any form of punishment. It was voluntary, temporary separation. We just removed him (or he removed himself) from a stressful situation for a minute until he could get his act together. Taking a second to reorganize his thoughts and really think about his reaction made life sweeter for all of us. He's almost five now, and he still runs up to his room or to the other side of the yard when he needs to "take a minute". It's mostly helpful in situations where he's frustrated or angry, but I guess it could work in other situations, too.
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