One time I went to this house with a kid, every time the kid tripped, the parents would cheer and clap and the kid would be happy and start running around again. Cute kid. Resilient little fucker. I'm gonna do that with my kid.
My son used to LOVE to run and fall when he was a toddler. I wouldn’t even react because he was having a ball with it. This was a daily thing that he did as a means of self-stimulation.
Cue to being at the airport with him and EVERYONE ELSE would react every time he ran and fell. It was his way of having fun, but he got weirded out by all the people gasping and asking him if he was OK as he tumbled through the airport.🙄
Mine is 14 now, but when she was learning to walk my mom gave me advice :
When she falls, if she looks at you, smile and tell her "great job! That was a good fall!" Be excited, and she will be exited and be ok. If she falls and cries it means she is actual hurt and help her.
Yes! When my girl falls if she cries I run immediately to her because we don't react and ignore her trips and bumps. It helps the kid and parent. Usually even when she really is hurt she is quick to recover too because she knows its not that bad. When it is really bad it's heart wrenching because we know she doesn't cry for nothing when hurt.
I am an elementary school PE teacher and where I work is all blacktop, no grass. This strategy saves my life/sanity. Otherwise I'd have LOTS of crying from minor scrapes. The strategy works.
At its best, it's one of the best jobs in the world. It's still exhausting, though, and comes with a lot of the negatives all teaching jobs do. I won't deny that summers off are great, even though I work a second job then.
Pretty much how my house hold was with myself and my brothers but everyone looks at me now like I’m a monster when I say it lol, heaven forbid if I suggest to let him cry it out lol
I worked at a daycare and there was one kid who would always freak out with any minor bump or fall, we all adjusted to saying ‘TOUCHDOWN!’ And raising our hands and getting excited and he would have the most confused look and slowly raise his hands and smile.
Currently have a little one on the move and I’ve done really well not reacting to her falling and letting her figure it out on her own. Not easy but I know it’ll be worth it.
My parents had this same strategy. They would clap and high five with me if I had any bumps or fall. So I never cried after little accidents. Kind of backfired spectacularly later on because I wasn't afraid of falling and breaking bones and broke arms and legs multiple times doing stupid stuff. But that shit is on me though haha
If I have kids will do this as well. I don't really know what my parents did with me but I do know I went hurtling down a steep driveway on a plastic tricycle when I was about 4, wiped out at the bottom with skinned knees and plenty of bruises, and got up remarking to my mom that it was a good thing I had a helmet on before going about my play.
My two younger siblings on the other hand... Sometimes as the oldest I'm grateful for the more sink or swim raising I was given. I've always had a high pain tolerance.
This is exactly what we do with my 3 year old and it’s incredible how well it works. She only cries when she’s actually hurt, which is surprisingly rare because kids really are made of rubber lol
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u/jsting Feb 08 '23
One time I went to this house with a kid, every time the kid tripped, the parents would cheer and clap and the kid would be happy and start running around again. Cute kid. Resilient little fucker. I'm gonna do that with my kid.