My 10-year-old daughter is a social butterfly and has always loved being the center of attention. Recently, she woke up in a very cheerful mood, and decided that that day was going to be fantastic, so she wanted to make breakfast for me. Things didn’t go as well with my poached eggs on toast as she’d hoped. The eggs stuck to the egg cooker, the sauce turned out lumpy, and the toast was cold by the time everything else was ready.
She was inconsolable and declared her entire day “completely ruined.” Thanks to you, Dr. Laura, I had the perfect answer for her. I told her that I’d be upset too if something I was excited about didn’t go exactly as planned. However, it was still morning, and it wasn’t right to let that mishap ruin an entire day. I told her she had ten more minutes to cry and feel sad, but then she’d need to take a deep breath and decide that she’d have a positive attitude for the rest of the day.
FOUR minutes later, she returned with a smile, saying she was done being sad, and it was time to do something fun. We “high-fived,” and I told her I was proud of her because she changed her attitude before the time limit, and we got ready to face the rest of the day. Thank you for giving me the tools I need to help her become a better person.
Jennifer (a truly grateful mommy!)
You Gave Me the Tools I Needed