Last night my youngest daughter of 5 years woke up at about 10pm with an ear ache. She cried and cried and cried. She did a bit of screaming too. Husband who is a doctor looked in her ear and and said it wasn't too bad so we gave her calpol and tried to be comforting. But this daughter of mine is a crier and if she is upset or hurt she really knows how to cry and this is exactly what she did. She cried and screamed for an hour and 10 minutes.
So I decided to try a little tough love and told her that although she was in pain she would have to try to stop crying because otherwise she would wake up all her siblings (one had already woken up at this point). I told her if she really couldn't stop herself from crying then she would have to go down stairs and cry in the kitchen the only place her siblings would not be able to hear her noise.
I gave her five minutes to try to calm down. She did calm down and I was able to put her back in her bed (she had been in my bed for a while).
But the quiet did not last because five minutes later she was screaming again. So came the follow through.
I brought her down to the kitchen and sat her on a chair and told her she could cry as much as she wanted but when she was finished she could find me in the living room.
Five minutes of screaming later she came in to me and was completely calm. I put her to bed and She slept till morning with only a little sob somewhere around 2am for a few moments.
So am I completely harsh? I don't think so I truly believe if I left her she would have cried and screamed until the morning.
But don't we sometimes do the same thing as adults? We have some kind of difficulty or pain in our lives and we cry and cry with moans groans complaints and mutterings. "I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God". Psalm69:3
Remember God in heaven is always on hand to comfort us and even without the tough love. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me".Psalm 23:4
Wow' how impress i am by your tough love(teaching self-control, and thinking of others)
ReplyDeletewe are taught by the Lord over many years in our life time these value and now you are teaching your child. I am sure this morning it was love as usual, and a little bit of awe, (what mummy says mummy means)Keep up the good work. Mum xxx
Right on, good post!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is 4 so I understand your pain! Sometimes I feel I am so harsh too (just tonight when my daughter was going crazy and I sent her to bed harshly!---felt like a mean Mommy)---but we need to be like this from time to time! You are a reminder and I am a reminder to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! Let me know how the hat goes with your children! Glad you liked it!