Alright, I admit that occasionally... only occasionally mind you... I can be a little silly. But this current silliness is effective and so I shall continue it. About what do I speak? Simple -- a method for getting my most noisy three year old to quiet down at night --- both at bedtime and if/when he wakes during the night. This method I call the 'Scooby Doo Silencer device.' Here is how it works:
Xander: Yell, yell, shriek, run, talk, shriek, bounce.
Mom: Xander, it is bedtime, time to quiet down.
Xander (at the top of his lungs): I AM BEING QUIET! SEE? I AM NOT TALKING!
Mom, thinking (yeah, thats a fine distinction!): Xander, you are yelling, that is not quiet.
Xander (switching over to loud singing voice): I AM NOT SHOUTING. I AM SINGING YOU A LULLABY!
Mom: Xander, you know we need to be quiet otherwise Shaggy and Scooby will come and eat all the food in the kitchen
Sudden silence falls.
Xander (in a whisper): Can I sing like this?
Mom: Better not. They have good ears. Who knows? They might be walking past the house right now and any noise might make them come here!
Xander: Oh. (Silence) Wiggles. Hugs Mom. Wiggles again. No voices though!!!!
It works. It really does. I am glad -- it is not monster scary (though Xander is less than impressed by monsters anyway) but for some reason, the thought of having all the food eaten up is of concern and he is unwilling to allow that to happen so... It even works when he wakes up in the middle of the night and announces 'I AM AWAKE NOW!' I will go in and say 'Xander, ssshhh. You might wake Shaggy and Scooby!'
1 comment:
It is all in knowing how the child thinks -- he likes Scooby & Shaggy -- and knows their appetites all too well! So they aren't monsters, just very hungry (all the time) friends of his.
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