Cody had a difficult time adjusting to kindergarten last year. He’s not a morning person at the best of times, but faced with a long bus ride and an even longer day away from his beloved home made him even more snarly come 6:50 a.m.
Fortunately, he made a little discovery about a month after school began. The object that turned his life around was this:
I know, right? It was a bit creepy to come in one morning to wake Cody up, only to have him emerge wearing these babies. After I got over my initial shock, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing as he declared that these Magic Glasses would help him have a good morning. (Like most kids, Cody gets mortally offended when he feels he is being laughed at.)
The glasses did indeed help him have a good morning, sans whining and complaining. And a good next morning. And a good next morning after that.
And so on.
One day, he became panicky when he couldn’t find the Magic Glasses. However, by something short of a miracle (I suppose it could be called good behavior), he managed to have a decent morning anyway.
I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the Magic Glasses until a few days ago, when moving the kids’ rooms around again. I rescued them from certain destruction and began to reminisce fondly on how they changed Cody’s life. Or, at least, his perception of reality.
Hey, whatever works, right? I wasn’t going to argue if he believed that creepy eyeball glasses would help him have a good morning.
I think I’ll save them for Logan. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be in need of some Magic Glasses to help him get adjusted to kindergarten too.
Have your kids had any specially self-designated aids to help them deal with challenges in their lives?
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Hey, you do what works! If wacky glasses get your kid out of bed, bring on the wacky glasses.
My son has so many rituals and routines to through his day I can’t keep up with them–but then he’s got Asperger’s Syndrome and that kind of goes with the territory.
I also remember than when he was younger–say 4-ish–he went through a stage where he was obsessed with Blues Clues. He had a green-striped shirt just like Steve and a notebook just like Joe. That notebook went wherever he did and became a much-treasured talisman. One time we were watching The Wizard of Oz, and he got scared. In a moment of parental inspiration, I told him that holding on to his notebook could make his scary feelings go away.
Several months later, we were watching something else–Finding Nemo, I think–and it got to a scary point. He dashed up, ran into his bedroom, and emerged several minutes later with the notebook, holding it in front of him like a crucifix before a vampire. I was completely baffled, and then I remembered: the notebook could defeat scary feelings! Apparently it worked–he made it through the rest of the movie.
Elizabeth, that’s a great story about the notebook! I do the same things with my kids too. It’s amazing how well that can work.