Thursday, February 25, 2010

Love and Logic with a Sick Kid

My daughter was up at 4am this morning crying and whining and crying and whining and by 8am she was still crying and whining. I tried a couple of times to encourage her back into her own bed, but I realized soon that something must be wrong. I ended up in her bed where both of us were challenged to fall asleep. By 8:30am, we were in the doctor's office with two confirmed ear infections.

How did I use Love and Logic today? Well, I definitely have been using the "Love" part which I think we are all inclined to do when we have a sick little one. She has spent most of the day on the couch, watching Dora or sleeping and I even let her eat pudding on the couch.

The only thing that doesn't fly when she is sick is being rude. My daughter is lovely dovey and cuddly when she is sick so thank goodness there is no rudeness. Do you think it is right to expect polite behavior from a sick child? For example, if my daughter yelled, "Mom, I want a blanket, NOW!".

My enforceable statement would be, "I get blankets for girls who are polite."  In the real world when we come to work with a cold, are we expected to still be nice? What about when we are tired? It's a real challenge, an added challenge on top of feeling crummy, but those around you are far more apt to take loving care of you if you are polite to them.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this, because I do question my logic here, but I'm just going with my instincts.

3 comments:

A.McG said...

I think you are right on. Of course we bend the rules (pudding on the couch) when they aren't well. But letting her boss you around or yell at you teaches her that sickness or tiredness is an excuse to treat people poorly.

The Kindergarten Empty Nester said...

glad to hear your thoughts Aleta! I hope you are doing well!

Chris Peterson said...

Some of Grace's most impactful L&L lessons have come when she was sick. How do I know? When it is a month or two later and she is still talking about being how we can be nice "no matter what". Or, when she has been up all night vomiting and I'm sitting on the edge of the tub and she leans over and says, "Dad you look a little sleepy...why don't you just close your eyes for a bit...I can take care of things in here." How precious coming from a 3-year-old.