Stalling
Stalling. We all do it. I had an example thrown back at me from the middle child today, and its worth noting he's starting to do it more often. It probably is all part of the "what are my boundaries" which all human beings seem to learn at an early age, and then continually press. The scenario from this morning was going to Grandma's, but also involved having to go into the city to pick up a friend.
When Ethan found out we would have to go into the city, effectively adding extra travel time to Grandma's, rather than a direct trip, he decided that he didn't want to go. That was at around 8:30 am. Expected departure time was 9:30am. At 9:15am he began his stalling strategies. He put on a movie he wanted to watch. He delayed cleaning up his breakfast meal - and when he did go and pick up his meal, he managed to spill half of the leftovers back on the table. Peanut Butter leaves a nice mess. This was followed up with not being able to get his shoes (thongs) on properly, and also a stint of crying in his room. What should have been a 5 minute activity suddenly turns in to 20 minutes, causing lateness and angst.
I definitely can't complain about this type of behaviour, because if anything, he learnt it from me. I'm notorious at not being able to keep to timeframes, unless its something specific that I've organised and hold a vested interest in. My wife has now introduced a habit of setting everything half an hour before the actual "real time" of any activity she needs to get to. This ultimately will backfire and really get me in the poo, when she doesn't set the time, and I deliberately delay even more thinking I still have half an hour up my sleeve.
Ciao for Now, and quit stalling. Angry Dad.
When Ethan found out we would have to go into the city, effectively adding extra travel time to Grandma's, rather than a direct trip, he decided that he didn't want to go. That was at around 8:30 am. Expected departure time was 9:30am. At 9:15am he began his stalling strategies. He put on a movie he wanted to watch. He delayed cleaning up his breakfast meal - and when he did go and pick up his meal, he managed to spill half of the leftovers back on the table. Peanut Butter leaves a nice mess. This was followed up with not being able to get his shoes (thongs) on properly, and also a stint of crying in his room. What should have been a 5 minute activity suddenly turns in to 20 minutes, causing lateness and angst.
I definitely can't complain about this type of behaviour, because if anything, he learnt it from me. I'm notorious at not being able to keep to timeframes, unless its something specific that I've organised and hold a vested interest in. My wife has now introduced a habit of setting everything half an hour before the actual "real time" of any activity she needs to get to. This ultimately will backfire and really get me in the poo, when she doesn't set the time, and I deliberately delay even more thinking I still have half an hour up my sleeve.
Ciao for Now, and quit stalling. Angry Dad.
posted by Wes at 9:49 pm
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