Use Your Words

With the arrival of warmer spring weather we're faced with the same issues we have every summer. Whereas the cold weather makes William want to do nothing but stay indoors where it's warm, the warm weather makes him want to do nothing but stay outdoors where it's lovely. I can't blame him, I rather enjoy it too. But life being what it is it's just not possible for me to spend from 4:00 to 9:00 outside watching him. I have things I need to tend to in the house. And this evening when the time came for him to come inside and have dinner he protested like he usually does.. with screaming. I got him fed and plenty to drink. I got him changed for bed and although the screaming had diminished a bit he was still obviously upset. No amount of asking what he wanted would result in a response other than screaming. Dad mentioned that he had run into a similar situation recently and had asked him to "use his words" to tell him what he wanted. William answered that he wanted the bike inside. It had been left out on the porch and he wanted it back in the house. Such an easy thing to solve.. and yet such a hard thing for him to convey. So with that suggestion I went to William tonight and asked him to use his words to tell me what he wanted. He thought for a moment and very quietly answered. He said it so quietly, so tentatively, that I couldn't quite make it out. It wasn't "bike inside".. it was short.. only one syllable. I asked him to tell me again and strained to listen. I shushed his little brother so I might have a chance at catching it.. I begged him to say it AGAIN. He did. The words he said were shocking. He said.. "I want love please." I cried as I held him as he drifted off to sleep.

Kiss me....

In his usual fashion, Will came up to me today and shoved against my hip. When I turned to ask him what I could do for him he pulled me down and said "kiss me". So I did. Big smooches right on the cheek. With that he was content and moved on to his next planned activity. Yay for kisses!

Kiss It Better, Mom..

I had my hair pulled this afternoon. Not just your ordinary hair pulling, mind you, this hair pulling had purpose! Never one to shoot down my son's behaviors without an attempt at comprehension I went along with it.. although I do believe a small "ouch" may have been uttered in protest. What followed was astounding. William directed my lips to his finger.. which he had just injured.. albeit very mildly.. and wanted Mommy to kiss it better. Yay for hair pulling!

He finally said it!!

Now, granted, I cheated. I'd had a situation last week where he read aloud (as he usually does) a request I wanted him to make verbally. Always trying to get him to use his words.. and it had worked surprisingly well. He'd actually strapped himself into a booster seat and was walking around the kitchen with this contraption strapped to his backside and trying to get me to open it up for him so he could strap himself back into it and do it all over again. So, after asking him verbally to say "open please" about 4 times I wrote it on a piece of paper. He said it. I praised him and told him that wasn't so hard to do and look.. I opened it. He then continued to verbally make the request as he played his game. So yes, when the thought crossed my mind I thought it might be a fun experiment. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote "I love you Mommy". He read it aloud once and then modified it. He said "I love you too Mommy". I actually cried. He's 4 years and 5 months.. and he finally said it. =) I want to believe he generated the sentiment internally and was sincere but even if he simply pulled it from his vast database I can't complain.

Kisses!

Well it finally happened. I've learned to accept that my son doesn't say "I love you, Mommy" like most 4 year olds should.. but when he planted a kiss square on my lips the other day it made all my waiting worth it. He's always loved to be hugged and his favorite place is on Mommy or Daddy's lap.. but a kiss? I never thought I'd see the day! And to have 10 kisses in a row.. well it was just more than my little heart could take and it just melted. =)