Monday, January 14, 2008

The Hard Approach

Yesterday when we wanted to go out for lunch, CE cried and wailed in the car coz he wanted me to carry him. He was sitting behind with Kakak. Normally Kakak would "bribe" him with food (Honeystar or biscuits) and he'd settle down. So the cruel truth is that mommy comes second, after food. LOL

But yesterday, PaPa didn't want to give in to his demands. So he was not to be bribed with Honeystar. When PaPa sternly asked him to keep quiet, he stopped crying for awhile. Then he wailed his lungs out again. So PaPa scolded him again, he kept quiet for awhile, then continued to cry again. After a few rounds of that, PaPa got a bit irritated and carried him out of the car. And he still couldn't stop crying, so he brought him into the house. We were all waiting in the car. PaPa put him on the sofa and he's only allowed to come down if he stopped crying. After awhile, he was brought out of the house. He still cried a bit, but it was much softer and manageable. Luckily the ride to the shop was a short one.

As for the ride home, we didn't want to go through the hassle again so I just put him on my lap as it's his nap time (sure super cranky if he didn't get his way). So my new tactic is to threaten to leave him at home if he kicks up a fuss in the car when I'm going to fetch XY from her kindy. Kakak will pretend to open the car door to go out. And that seemed to work today. Ah boy, why don't you understand that mommy can't carry you when I'm driving? Why can only listen when threatened? Kids...

9 comments:

jazzmint said...

wah...seems like mine can hi-5 with urs :p. I do the hard approach also, force him sit on car seat. after several attempt to escape but fail, now he give up. quietly sit there LOL. he actually cried from my house till mil house 1 morning, but i didn't bother and told maid don't bother, ever since then he knew the trick won't work

Anonymous said...

i oso do this if soft approach doesnt work on my kids...hehe..
me too oso like jazzmint, let them cry afterwards they will quiet down

Peridot&Sapphire said...

yeah.... sometimes must use hard approach but mummy will "sam thong" abit lorr to hear they cry...

Sasha Tan said...

yeah mine is the same also. wanted me to carry him when i drive. So one time i ljust left him cry from my house tomy mum's (about 25 mins ride). After that day he just kept quiet, cos he knows that No way I will carry him. But poor thing la cried for so long. what to do,,,need to discipline.

Anonymous said...

same here la, but my man definitely no heart to hear my boy cries. so ended up just spell a little spoil brat.

TheBlueRanger said...

haiya....i tried both soft and hard. if soft doesn't work then i just let him cry. my hubby didn't understand why i looked so upset sometimes after picking up ethan from the daycare.

Unknown said...

i use soft approach n my hubby use hard approach for our kid. if my kid cries, my hubby will let him be. but im the one who cuddle him..

Health Freak Mommy said...

Sometimes my gals will only listen when I threaten them with the cane!

slavemom said...

Jazz, I hope mine gets the msg too.

Wen, when CE cry hor... vy intense till Kakak oso cannot hold on to him.

Sharine, not really "sam thong" but vy distracting if I'm driving.

Sasha, J's so good, can get the msg so fast.

Hui Sia, men usually can't stand the wailings n screams.

TheBlueRanger, yeah.. their cries r really torturing n distracting.

Shirley, so u play the good guy role. :)

Shireen, CE doesn't show any fear for the cane and XY sometimes ignore it. :|