Those were my 8-year-old’s words last night when I told him he had to go to bed right after he cleaned his room. He would lose his reading time with me AND his reading time on his own, both very precious privileges to him. Both boys have to clean their rooms each night before bed, otherwise I would never see the carpet. I had told him three times to get it done and that’s my limit.
But his reaction to being punished was way out of whack. He couldn’t stop crying. The kind of tears that jump out of a child’s eyes and don’t even get the chance to roll down his face. He told me through many gasping breaths that he thought he had done poorly on a test, he had a fight with his best friends and now he had to go to bed early because I was mad at him.
The Worst Day Ever.
We talked each thing through and he settled to bed, relieved. I’m glad we can talk through these childhood traumas and I wish that he would remember that I can help. If not fix the situation, at least, listen to his side and give what advice I can. My moment is to remember to be more vigilant about caring for his emotional learning. Boys, for better or worse, hide these emotions for the most part. I need to teach him how to deal/cope with life’s worst days while he’ll still listen to me. I never knew how challenging this parenting thing would be.
If you’re able, hug your mom & dad. They deserve it.
![om [one moment] meet up](http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx125/alamodestuff/OM_alamodemeetupbutton.jpg)
OM is *one moment* and is a meetup designed to notice & relish a moment in everyday life. The meetup idea was created by Linda at her blog, a la mode stuff.
If you’d like to participate in OM, just click the button and you’ll be taken to Linda’s post explaining it all.
Having two boys myself, I completely agree that sharing emotions (theirs, ours, mine) with the boys is important. I’m finding it very difficult to get my 13yo to open out now that he is getting older.
Sometimes our hardest moments (tantrums, crying, arguing, etc.) bring out the best moments in our relationships.
This brings tears to my eyes. We have very similar moments. Overreactions are my red flag for fatigue or stress. Boys don’t verbalize like we think they should. I hope we can teach our boys to communicate their fears and heartbreak as well as their joys and accomplishments. Being there for him is the first step to growing an emotionally healthy man!
That’s sounds like such a sweet moment, so wonderful that he could open up to you. I have three boys and I agree, getting them to verbalize their fears and disappointments can be such a challenge.
Cyn, a Mother’s work is never done. Sometimes trying, but oh so rewarding. It’s smart to listen and breathe through tuff moments. Hugs, Margie