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Saturday, November 10, 2007

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Get out the wreaths, put up the lights, the holidays are almost here! Last week, I believed that the presence of holiday gear in the stores was merely evidence of retailers trying to hoodwink us into starting our holiday shopping early. Now, I see that I was being unfair. The people around us are showing signs of transitioning into those behaviors that best demonstrate their holiday cheer. And no, I don't mean caroling. I mean rudeness and intolerance toward children. On December 2 last year, I did deliver Christmas wishes to a bit## bit of a grinch who yelled at my older son (OS) in a family restaurant. Lest you think that he was going up to her and sticking his fingers in the this lady's food, I'll clarify by saying that he was having a time-out in the foyer of the restaurant, nowhere near her (or anyone else's) table. She took offense at his crying.

Today we all went to the New England Aquarium followed by a stop at Mike's Pastries in the North End. For the non-New Englanders, the North End has the best Italian food in Boston, and Mike's has the best Italian pastry in the North End. In other words, it rocks! I don't quite understand exactly what took place inside Mike's, since I was waiting outside with my younger son (YS), but I learned that there were a variety of misadventures involving OS and a rogue cookie. All I really know is that he came out of the shop crying. Not surprising to me, the crying turned into a fit which then turned into a complete meltdown as we were walking back to where we had parked.

A few passers-by gave me a sympathetic look. Most people at least had the courtesy to just walk past. A few people gave the Big Giraffe and me the nasty look, as if we must be horrible parents to inspire an otherwise angelic four year-old to behave like that. Then came the man whom I will always think of as an emissary for holiday cheer. As he walked by, he turned to us and actually started mimicking OS's screams and cries.

So, was the emissary a genius? After all, over four years of struggling with OS's temper tantrums, I had never thought that the silver bullet to cure his behavior was to make fun of him. Unfortunately, the answer is no. It turns out there is good reason not to use imitation and mockery to stop a tantrum. Such tactics actually make it worse. In this case the emissary not only encouraged OS to further degrade his behavior. He made the whole situation worse because I then had two targets for my annoyance, OS and the emissary.

Avid readers of my blog might wonder if I used this opportunity to do what I had not done to the grinch last year...deliver a special "season's greeting" in the symbolic form of a certain finger. It turned out, I did not have to. My MIL took care of the situation. In the tradition of Jewish mothers-in law, she did the slight spit thing at him. Not that I recommend that either, but we didn't have any more problems with that guy. However, it did make me realize that the holidays are almost here!

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:48 PM   5 comments
5 Comments:

  • At 11/10/2007 8:17 PM, Blogger Tracey said…

    Oh My Lord.

    I'm always amazed at the lack of intelligence some adults have regarding children...

    Proud of your MIL. :)

     

  • At 11/11/2007 10:58 AM, Blogger Kami said…

    Wow, some people really know how to do it up right. Although, I have to admit that in a moment of weakness I may or many not have tried the same mimicking trick with my then 4 year old. It had the same effect on him as it did on your son.

    I would have been the one giving you a sympathetic look because I have SO been there sister!

    :-)

    Our is 6 now and he's passed on the tantrums to his 3 year old brother. It's awsome.

     

  • At 11/11/2007 4:13 PM, Blogger Chantelle said…

    Wow. You seem to meet bearers of Christmas joy wherever you go. I can't believe that someone would swear at someone else's - well, for that matter at any - kid. Crazies.

     

  • At 11/11/2007 6:03 PM, Blogger Staci Schoff said…

    And just when you think people can't get any more stupid. Making fun of a 4 year old -- grow up, idiot.

     

  • At 11/13/2007 9:42 AM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Wow, I am in awe of MIL. That protectiveness is wonderful. I hope the slight spit was also full of week old eggs and cheese.

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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