Glorious
June 22nd, 2009 · Posted in Family · 19 CommentsIt’s been raining a lot lately, and Jen discovered today that we have a child who is afraid of the resulting mud. Fortunately for him, he has a caring younger brother who decided to help him fight his phobia.
By throwing mud at his face.
This is one of those tricky parenting moments, where an immediate judgement is required, and may shape the life, and future patterns of behaviour of both children. So, with that in mind, what is the correct course of action?
RodeoClown: thought it was pretty funny.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:31 am
Tell him to harden up princess. Or man up. Either will do.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:36 am
Thanks for that Sim, I’ll keep it in my repertoire
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
laugh, mock and belittle
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 am
That’s actually kinda scary Ben, considering you have kids of your own…
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:27 am
Not really. Its mud. Time to harden up
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
it’s a cold world, my friend. only the strong survive.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Oh no… I don’t like the comments so far.
I think gentle laughter is the way to go while pointing out that the mud doesn’t hurt does it? Show them their face in a mirror maybe.
At the same time chastising the little brother asking him to apologize and not to throw anything into anyone’s face ever again… please.
Then tell the muddy faced child that their little brother is too young to understand but now knows not to do it again… Good Luck!
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Hi Pennie, don’t worry, those guys are just joking, we wouldn’t be using either of those techniques on the kids
The younger of the two was put in the corner for a while, while Jen cleaned up the older. Apparently it took a while for him to calm down, he was extremely distressed. He did calm down eventually though.
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 am
joking? Spare the mud, spoil the child.
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:18 am
I’m not joking. Seriously, its mud. Hes a kid, throw him in a huge pile of it and let him figure out that it does nothing. Otherwise, he’ll develop OCD and turn into a serial killer
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
Post event (you’re wife did an awesome job of sorting it out) Get him a fun pair of gum boots (wiggles, dora, whatever), get yourself a pair of gum boots (from Bunnings – cheaper) next time it rains and creates mud, go out and show him how much fun it is to splash in the mud, work on the phobia for next time. I reckon he’ll love ya all the more for it – c’mon who wouldn’t want a cool dad who stomps in the mud with ‘im
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:31 am
He’s got a big pair of gumboots (I think they are Bob the Builder), and we’ve currently got a mass of mud at the bottom of our driveway – assuming it’s still there on Friday, I’ll planning to take him down there are squelch around in it (I’ll probably just go barefoot). Thanks for the idea RD.
One good thing about having a fear of mess – he toilet trained real quick…
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Re Toilet training: Well, that’s a blessing in disguise.
Let us know how Friday goes.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 am
Correct response – ROFLMBO!!
D!
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am
i wish I was gen y enough to know what a roflmbo was..
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Acronym expanded for old man Ben:
Rolling On [the] Floor Laughing My Butt Off
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Gollygosh, the comments are flying back and forth, I reckon you did good RodeoClown!
BTW Ben I’m PRE Babyboomers and I know what roflmbo means although we ‘ladies’ usually say roflolpmp which isn’t very lady like at all really.
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Thanks Pennie
I had no idea what the last half of roflolpmp was, but I have looked it up, and now I know
June 24th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Now that is funny! You’ll have to post how the forced mud squeching goes.