so, we went to a town just north of here today that was having a community wide garage sale.
and at one of the garage sales Nathan attached to a little electronic black jack game. for no real reason, except it was his size I think.
Anyways we told him we were going and to put the game down on the table.
and...
the hissy fit started, boots got kicked off everything.
So the lady running the garage sale rushes over and says "oh, he can have that" and hands it to him!
Now I know she was being nice,
and most people just don't want to see a little kid cry.
But it really irked me! I mean were standing there telling our child no, and some stranger is undermining us. The point was not to buy the toy or not I'm sure it wasn't even that expensive, but the actual problem was that he'd gotten 2 other toys at a different sale and needs to understand he doesn't get everything he wants.
I know people are being nice and he's cute, but it really make me angry when the offer something to Nathan, or stick it in his hand before they ask me. People give him suckers and things all the time...and half the time I'm just like "really? great, he just had some sugar and now your jamming more in him. But I'm the mean one and get to deal with the temper tantrum not mention the screaming and tears if I take it away now! THANKS!!!"
2 comments:
Hi there! It would have been okay to say something like, "Gee, that's very sweet of you to offer. But he got two other games today and that was his limit." Or to say something like, "That is very generous of you, but Nathan has already had his sweets this afternoon, so we're going to save this for another time." It is totally okay to set boundaries around your child! :-)
I can imagine it's tough to be the bad cop. I know it will happen to me one day too. I agree with Anne, it's totally okay to be polite and thank them for the thought but set the boundary anyway. Even if it means taking it away again, then he'll know mom means business. Good luck next time.
Post a Comment