Half Tick

I seem to be writing about Ethan a lot in the blog lately. I'm going to continue that trend to talk about a technique we've been doing to curb inappropriate crying. Ethan has had a habit, at both soccer practice and soccer games, of crying over small things. I don't mind if he cries if he gets hit hard by the soccer ball, or if he falls over, or gets kicked in the shins. I do mind if he cries because someone looks at him funny, or if someone doesn't pass to him straight away, or if he miss kicks the ball.

Ethan is very sensitive. This isn't a bad trait. However, it is inappropriate for him to cry in some of the above circumstances. It seems like he does it to get attention, and often he'll be fine within minutes of playing up. To stop him, Anth has set up a tick board on the fridge. It works quite simply. If Ethan can go for a session without crying, including both practice and games, he will get a tick for each session. If he does it consecutively for four sessions, we will get him a toy.

Yes, its basic bribery, but it has been having the desired effect, almost. This evening, as always I wasn't punctual. We got there just as training started, and the other kids were doing warm up runs. I tried to encourage Ethan to run ahead and join in, but instead he decided he'd start howling because we were late. Fortunately, super coach came over, asked him how he was, gave him a big hug and said "C'mon Buddy" and he was off. She is such a great coach! Unfortunately for him, he only got half a tick.

Ciao for Now, Hard Ass Angry Dad.