Monday- Mr. Personality

Weslee is surprising us everyday with his “toddler-ness”. Everything is big in his world. He plays big…throwing his arms all over the place, throwing toys (in a playful way), running around, and laughing these huge, fake, cheesy laughs with his mouth wide open. His emotional swings can sometimes be big…one minute giggling like crazy, and the next throwing himself on the floor and screaming in anger just to get up in another minute to run around and play like nothing ever happened. Half the time, I’m exhausted just keeping up with the mood du jour. And, of course, now that he’s talking more and stringing words together a little better, there is the constant chatter. He talks to strangers one minute, shouting “HI!!!” as we enter a quiet room, and the next, he’s hiding his head between my legs in embarrassment. It has been fascinating to watch. My baby isn’t a baby anymore. He’s becoming a little boy.

With his growing up has come the ability to work the system. We figured out yesterday that he can convincingly “cry” at the drop of a hat, just to turn it off the minute he gets what he wants. Seriously, this kid can pull a face that will melt your heart and make you think that he has cut himself or something. Tears are also sometimes involved. Kevin came up with a solution. We now have the “whining/crying corner” in our hotel room. It is a wonderful invention for both parent and child. When Weslee begins whining, we simply take his hand and lead him to this corner (and believe it or not, he will actually walk there himself and sit down with his back against the bathroom door). Here he can whine, cry, wail…whatever…to his heart’s content. But, there’s a catch…he can’t cry, whine, or wail anywhere else unless he’s really hurt. The other catch is that Kevin and I go about our day while he’s in this corner. We don’t pay any attention to him other than the sideways glances when he’s not looking to make sure he’s safe. We tell him when he goes there that he can come out as soon as he’s done. An astonishing thing has happened…the whining has pretty well stopped. No more dramatic crying. No more incessant whining. He’s not getting any more attention when he does it, so it’s not fun anymore. And, we have our happy Weslee back.

The one time he’s had to go there today lasted only a couple of seconds. He began his Hollywood cry when I didn’t get the juice fast enough. Instead of getting ticked and preaching to him about not whining, I just took his hand and led him to the whining corner, looked him in the eye and told him I’d love to get him some juice when he was done crying. Seriously, the kid turned it off in 5 seconds flat…before I had even made it to the kitchen counter again, wiped the tears and said “Doos peas?” I got him juice and he didn’t whine anymore. It really is amazing. A spark of genius from Heavenly Father. It's making our house a peaceful place again, saving my sanity, and helping me feel like a better mom by helping me respond to Weslee in a more loving way.